Improving African American Participation Rates in Health Intervention Research

An Effective Practice

Description

The Obesity Prevention Center of the University of Minnesota was part of a multi-site study designed to develop and test interventions to prevent excessive weight gain by African American girls as they enter and proceed through puberty. Historically, there have been barriers to recruit African Americans into studies because of mistrust of health research within the African American community. In order to overcome these barriers and achieve their recruitment goals for the study, the investigators implemented recruitment strategies targeted at the African American community.

The specific strategies used were mailings, flyers, radio announcements, and group presentations. All strategies were aimed at increasing trust in the relationships between the researchers and communities.

Goal / Mission

To improve participation of African Americans in health promotion and intervention research.

Results / Accomplishments

In a multi-site study on interventions to reduce excess weight gain in African American adolescent girls, three out of four centers met their recruitment goals using strategies specifically targeted at the African American community. Caregivers of the adolescents who consented to participation in the study were most likely to hear about the program from the radio (29%), a flyer from the school (23%), or from their child (18%). The most frequent reason given by girls was that the program sounded like fun (70%). These findings demonstrate that participation rates in health research studies can be improved among the African American community using targeted strategies, especially “black radio.”

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
University of Minnesota
Primary Contact
Mary Story, Ph.D., R. D.
Division of Epidemiology & Community Health
1300 South Second Street, Suite 300
Minneapolis, MN 55454
(612) 626-8801
story001@umn.edu
http://www.ahc.umn.edu/opc/home.html
Topics
Health / Physical Activity
Health / Health Care Access & Quality
Organization(s)
University of Minnesota
Source
Obesity Prevention Center
Date of publication
2003
Geographic Type
Urban
Location
Minnesota
For more details
Target Audience
Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities