Recruitment strategies and costs for a community-based physical activity program

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Promotion
• Community-Based Research

Background:

• Many women aged 35-54 remain insufficiently or completely inactive.
• Promoting physical activity in this demographic requires effective recruitment strategies.
• Community-based participatory research offers a framework for health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness and cost of recruitment strategies for a physical activity program targeting inactive women aged 35-54.
• To identify the most successful recruitment channels for the 'Step Up. Step Out!' program.
• To share lessons learned in community-based recruitment for health promotion initiatives.

Main Methods:

• A community-based participatory research project utilized social marketing strategies.
• Multiple media channels were employed to disseminate program enrollment information.
• Participant inquiries and enrollment data were collected and analyzed.

Main Results:

• Out of 691 total inquiries, 430 women were eligible and enrolled in the program.
• Word-of-mouth was the most effective recruitment method, accounting for 36% of enrollments.
• Newspaper advertisements were the second most effective method (29%), while billboards were least effective.

Conclusions:

• Interpersonal recruitment strategies, particularly word-of-mouth, are highly effective for engaging inactive women in physical activity programs.
• Mass media channels were less successful than interpersonal efforts in this specific recruitment campaign.
• Community-based participatory approaches and interpersonal communication are valuable, potentially underrated tools for health promotion recruitment.