Dataset Information

Comparing Strategies for Recruiting Small, Low-Wage Worksites for Community-Based Health Promotion Research.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:HealthLinks is a workplace health promotion program developed in partnership with the American Cancer Society. It delivers a package of evidence-based interventions and implementation support to small worksites in low-wage industries. As part of a randomized, controlled trial of HealthLinks, we studied approaches to recruiting these worksites. AIMS:This study aims to guide future recruitment for community-based worksite health promotion interventions by comparing three approaches, including leveraging relationships with community partners. METHOD:We recruited 78 small, low-wage worksites in King County, Washington, to participate in the trial via three approaches: phone calls to companies on a purchased list ("cold"), phone calls to a list of eligible companies provided by a health insurer ("lukewarm"), and personal referrals from local health insurers and brokers ("warm"). Eligible and interested worksites received an in-person visit from researchers and completed additional steps to enroll. RESULTS:Of the worksites screened and deemed eligible, 32% of the "cold" worksites enrolled in HealthLinks, as did 48% and 60%, respectively, of the "lukewarm" and "warm" worksites. Compared with "warm" worksites, "cold" worksites were twice as likely to be ineligible. DISCUSSION:Two distinct factors help explain why "warmer" worksites were more likely to enroll in HealthLinks. First, eligibility was significantly higher among warmer referrals. Second, most of the warm-referred worksites eligible for the study agreed to meet in person with the project team to hear more about the project. CONCLUSIONS:"Warmer" recruitment approaches yielded higher recruitment. Leveraging relationships with community partners can help researchers identify and successfully recruit small, low-wage worksites.

SUBMITTER: Hammerback K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6409287 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Comparing Strategies for Recruiting Small, Low-Wage Worksites for Community-Based Health Promotion Research.

Hammerback Kristen K Hannon Peggy A PA Parrish Amanda T AT Allen Claire C Kohn Marlana J MJ Harris Jeffrey R JR

Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education 20180416 5

<h4>Background</h4>HealthLinks is a workplace health promotion program developed in partnership with the American Cancer Society. It delivers a package of evidence-based interventions and implementation support to small worksites in low-wage industries. As part of a randomized, controlled trial of HealthLinks, we studied approaches to recruiting these worksites.<h4>Aims</h4>This study aims to guide future recruitment for community-based worksite health promotion interventions by comparing three ...[more]

PMID: 29658314

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Project description:BackgroundSuccessful recruitment of participants to mobile health (mHealth) studies presents unique challenges over in-person studies. It is important to identify recruitment strategies that maximize the limited recruitment resources available to researchers.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to describe a case study of a unique recruitment process used in a recent mHealth software app designed to increase smoking cessation among weight-concerned women smokers. The See Me Smoke-Free app was deployed to the Google Play Store (Alphabet, Inc., Google, LLC), where potential participants could download the app and enroll in the study. Users were invited in-app to participate in the study, with no in-person contact. The recruitment activities relied primarily on earned (free) and social media.MethodsTo determine the relationship between recruitment activities and participant enrollment, the researchers explored trends in earned and social media activity in relation to app installations, examined social media messaging in relation to reach or impressions, and described app users' self-reported referral source. The researchers collected and descriptively analyzed data regarding recruitment activities, social media audience, and app use during the 18-week recruitment period (March 30, 2015-July 31, 2015). Data were collected and aggregated from internal staff activity tracking documents and from Web-based data analytics software such as SumAll, Facebook Insights (Facebook, Inc.), and Google Analytics (Alphabet, Inc., Google, LLC).ResultsMedia coverage was documented across 75 publications and radio or television broadcasts, 35 of which were local, 39 national, and 1 international. The research team made 30 Facebook posts and 49 tweets, yielding 1821 reaches and 6336 impressions, respectively. From March 30, 2015 to July 31, 2015, 289 unique users downloaded the app, and 151 participants enrolled in the study.ConclusionsResearch identifying effective online recruitment methods for mHealth studies remains minimal, and findings are inconsistent. We demonstrated how earned media can be leveraged to recruit women to an mHealth smoking cessation trial at low cost. Using earned media and leveraging social media allowed us to enroll 3 times the number of participants that we anticipated enrolling. The cost of earned media resides in the staff time required to manage it, particularly the regular interaction with social media. We recommend communication and cooperation with university public affairs and social media offices, as well as affiliate programs in journalism and communications, so that earned media can be used as a recruitment strategy for mHealth behavior change interventions. However, press releases are not always picked up by the media and should not be considered as a stand-alone method of recruitment. Careful consideration of an intervention's broad appeal and how that translates into potential media interest is needed when including earned media as part of a comprehensive recruitment plan for mHealth research.

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Dataset Information

Comparing Strategies for Recruiting Small, Low-Wage Worksites for Community-Based Health Promotion Research.

Publications

Comparing Strategies for Recruiting Small, Low-Wage Worksites for Community-Based Health Promotion Research.

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