Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Parents Experiencing Vulnerability: Lessons from an Online Parenting Program

Area of Science:

• Parenting and Child Development Research
• Digital Health Interventions
• Community-Based Participatory Research

Background:

• Supportive parenting programs enhance parent-child interactions and child development.
• Vulnerable families face significant barriers to research participation, leading to high attrition rates (≥40%) in parenting studies.
• Digital interventions offer a potential solution to improve accessibility and engagement in parenting research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recruitment and retention strategies in the First Pathways digital parenting program.
• To evaluate the association between sociodemographic and psychosocial factors and participation in parenting research.
• To identify effective methods for engaging and retaining vulnerable families in longitudinal studies.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal evaluation of a digital parenting program involving 100 vulnerable families in western Canada.
• Collaboration with community agencies for recruitment, utilizing staff engagement strategies and snowball sampling.
• Implementation of strategies to minimize participant burden, build rapport, incorporate trauma-informed practices, and provide honoraria.

Main Results:

• Community agency recruitment yielded a higher proportion of vulnerable families (low income, education, high adversity) compared to snowball sampling.
• Strategies to minimize burden, promote rapport, and show appreciation were key to high retention (99%).
• Family vulnerability factors (low income, depressive symptoms, adversity) correlated with increased rescheduling, highlighting the need for flexible support.

Conclusions:

• Nurses require knowledge of strategies to ensure equitable research access for vulnerable populations.
• Digital parenting programs incorporating rapport-building, trauma-informed care, and minimized burden are effective for optimizing participation and retention.
• Tailored support and flexible approaches are essential for retaining families facing socioeconomic and psychosocial challenges in research.