An explanation of how your presentation relates to the conference theme (word count: 250):
While community members drive innovation, how do we obtain innovative/inclusive solutions if the voices of our community are not explored nor captured? While evidence-based practices should inform community health decisions, challenges arise when recruiting a large, diverse, and representative sample in research. If a sample is not representative, the study’s external validity (generalizability) is threatened (1), presenting potential biases, and questioning the data’s accuracy to answer research questions with accuracy and rich meaning (2). When considering vulnerable or marginalized populations, recruitment becomes even more critical; without representation of these populations, the potential for even poorer health outcomes increases (3) or potentially even threatens community health due to inadequate evidence (1).
Barriers to participating in community research include a lack of participant interest or relevance (1, 4), lack of perceived community change (4), significant financial costs and time commitments (1, 5-6), communication issues between researchers and participants (1, 7-8), etc. Overall, participation fatigue (4, 6) has significant plagued community-based research, leaving participants feeling exploited (9, 10), undervalued, dissatisfied (6), and/or oversampled (11).
Scholars and practitioners present innovative solutions to address or mitigate these challenges, including: creating partnerships with community organizations (12), increasing the study’s awareness and transparency (4, 13-14), sharing results throughout the research process (4, 15), acknowledging negative past participant experiences with research (4, 16), considering time burdens and site location/accessibility (1, 5, 17-19), building rapport and trust with the community and their networks (18-21), etc. Ultimately, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to research recruitment (1), where flexible strategies are essential (22).
Overall for the conference program (word count: 76)
Drawing from researcher reflections on challenges with recruiting for a mixed methods community health research project, this presentation highlights recent trends that build on these common barriers in recruiting a diverse, representative sample in community- and health-related research. The presentation then explores several of the innovative, inclusive strategies to enhance participant recruitment shown in the literature, concluding by inviting participants to share their own experiences and solutions with research recruitment, further contributing to quality community health.
References:
- Axen et al., 2021
- Pedersen, 2023
- Winter et al., 2018
- Patel et al., 2021
- Archibald et al., 2015
- Clark, 2008
- Ellard-Gray et al., 2015
- Newington & Metcalfe, 2014
- Goodman et al., 2018
- Koen et al., 2017
- Szabo et al., 2018
- Dwarkanathan et al., 2018
- Glendhill et al., 2008
- Patel et al., 2003
- Kmietowicz, 2016
- Crowley, 2013
- Crawford Shearer et al., 2010
- Garnett & Northwood, 2022
- Negrin et al., 2022
- Involve, 2020
- Wood et al., 2016
- Bonisteel et al., 2021
