Improving research recruitment through participant input

Background Recruitment of older adults into aging research is a challenge. Several research studies and clinical trials have failed due to low participant enrollment. Older adults face many barriers to study participation (mistrust of research, lack of transportation, health status, etc.), so special efforts must be made to recruit them into research. We created a recruitment questionnaire with the goal of understanding how to better promote the study and to obtain participant suggestions of groups and locations where the study team could recruit new participants. Method The Health and Aging Brain Study: Health Disparities (HABS-HD) is a community based research study of cognitive aging in diverse communities. We designed a voluntary exit questionnaire for current study participants regarding their recruitment preferences. The questionnaire included the following questions: 1) How did you find out about the study? 2) How can we promote the study to someone similar to you? 3)Which of the following advertising methods do you prefer? 4) Do you know any organization/group that would benefit from the study information? Questionnaire data was compiled and analyzed to assess recruitment preferences and suggestions. Result The total number of participants who responded to the questionnaire was 413. 26.9% of respondents stated that they would prefer TV as their main advertising method, followed by the internet (23%) and postal service (mail) (22.7%). Word of mouth was listed as the best way to promote the study (26.9%) followed by community engagement (16.2%) and church (8.2%). When asked for names of organizations, participants recommended tradition groups such as churches, senior centers, and retirement homes. Participants also recommended groups such as rotary clubs, veterans associations, libraries, and the community college senior education program. Conclusion Participants can assist in recruitment efforts through suggesting organizations that study personnel may not have reached out to. The input allows for assessment of recruitment and the suggestions can broaden the study’s reach.