Recruitment of racial/ethnic minority older adults through community sites for focus group discussions

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Leydis De La Cruz¹  Rogelina Peralta¹  Mary E. Northridge²  Sara S. Metcalf³  Eric W. Schrimshaw⁴  Carol Kunzel⁵  Ivette Estrada⁵  Bibhas Chakraborty⁶  Michele Shedlin⁷  Stacia Birdsall⁷ 

[1] Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, Section of Population Oral Health, New York, NY, USA;Department of Epidemiology & Health Promotion, New York University College of Dentistry, 433 First Avenue, 7th Floor, Room 726, 10010, New York, NY, USA;Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA;Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, Section of Population Oral Health, New York, NY, USA;Department of Geography, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA;Department of Geography, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA;Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA;Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA;Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, Section of Population Oral Health, New York, NY, USA;Duke-National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS) Medical School, Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Singapore, Singapore;New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York, NY, USA;

关键词: African Americans;    Hispanics;    Aging;    Recruitment strategies;    Health equity;    Implementation science;    Social science;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-017-4482-6

 received in 2017-03-01, accepted in 2017-06-01,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundDespite a body of evidence on racial/ethnic minority enrollment and retention in research, literature specifically focused on recruiting racially/ethnically diverse older adults for social science studies is limited. There is a need for more rigorous research on methodological issues and the efficacy of recruitment methods. Cultural obstacles to recruitment of racial/ethnic minority older adults include language barriers, lack of cultural sensitivity of target communities on the part of researchers, and culturally inappropriate assessment tools.MethodsGuided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), this study critically appraised the recruitment of racial/ethnic minority older adults for focus groups. The initial approach involved using the physical and social infrastructure of the ElderSmile network, a community-based initiative to promote oral and general health and conduct health screenings in places where older adults gather, to recruit racial/ethnic minority adults for a social science component of an interdisciplinary initiative. The process involved planning a recruitment strategy, engaging the individuals involved in its implementation (opinion leaders in senior centers, program staff as implementation leaders, senior community-based colleagues as champions, and motivated center directors as change agents), executing the recruitment plan, and reflecting on the process of implementation.ResultsWhile the recruitment phase of the study was delayed by 6 months to allow for ongoing recruitment and filling of focus group slots, the flexibility of the recruitment plan, the expertise of the research team members, the perseverance of the recruitment staff, and the cultivation of change agents ultimately resulted in meeting the study targets for enrollment in terms of both numbers of focus group discussions (n = 24) and numbers of participants (n = 194).ConclusionsThis study adds to the literature in two important ways. First, we leveraged the social and physical infrastructure of an existing program to recruit participants through community sites where older adults gather. Second, we used the CFIR to guide the appraisal of the recruitment process, which underscored important considerations for both reaching and engaging this underserved population. This was especially true in terms of understanding the disparate roles of the individuals involved in implementing and facilitating the recruitment plan.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017