Giving schools a nudge: can behavioural insights improve recruitment of schools to randomised controlled trials?

BMC Research Notes

Anna Sarkadi¹  Georgina Warner¹  Fatumo Osman²  Serena McDiarmid³ 

[1] Child Health and Parenting (CHAP), Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, BMC, Husargatan 3, 751 22, Uppsala, Sweden;School of Education, Health and Social Studies, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden;Social Development Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada;Social Development Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada;

关键词: RCT;    Recruitment;    Schools;    Behavioural insights;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13104-021-05509-8

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

ObjectiveIt is widely acknowledged that recruitment to randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is challenging, particularly trials that operate across multiple sites. A research area in need of further high-quality evaluation, including RCTs, is school-based mental health interventions for refugee children and adolescents. However, engaging schools with interventions and associated evaluations can be challenging. This paper explores the application of behavioural insights, i.e. evidence-based understanding of how people behave and make decisions, to RCT recruitment at the school level via email communications. A pilot study of applying behavioural insights to mail outs attempting to recruit schools to a RCT of a trauma-focused group intervention for refugee children and adolescents experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress is reported. Rates of school involvement between the behavioural insights approach (n = 31) and a standard outreach approach (n = 65) are compared.ResultsSchools were more likely to give a positive response to the mail out designed using the behavioural insights framework than standard outreach. Accounts of recruitment strategies such as this are valuable additions to the literature on RCT methodology given the potential for recruitment issues to affect trial operations.

【 授权许可】

CC BY