Using a CBPR Approach to Guide Successful Recruitment for an Online Questionnaire: The Measurement Approaches to...

Area of Science:

• Public Health Research
• Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Recruiting and retaining long-standing community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships for studies presents unique challenges.
• Maintaining fidelity to CBPR principles during the research process is crucial for ethical and effective engagement.
• Previous recruitment strategies in CBPR research have not always been optimized for long-term partnerships.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the strategies used by the Measurement Approaches to Partnership Success (MAPS) study team to recruit 55 long-standing CBPR partnerships.
• To assess factors associated with partnership success within these established CBPR collaborations.
• To provide actionable recommendations for public health researchers to improve recruitment and data collection in future studies.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach for recruitment, emphasizing collaboration, transparency, and relationship-building.
• Implemented specific strategies: establishing primary points of contact, offering incentives, personalizing recruitment materials, and maintaining flexibility.
• Administered an online questionnaire to assess factors contributing to partnership success among participating CBPR groups.

Main Results:

• Achieved 100% of the study recruitment goal, successfully enrolling 55 long-standing CBPR partnerships.
• Demonstrated the effectiveness of value-guided recruitment strategies in engaging and sustaining partnership involvement.
• Identified key factors contributing to the success of recruitment in a CBPR context.

Conclusions:

• The MAPS study's recruitment success highlights the efficacy of integrating CBPR values into methodological approaches.
• The described strategies offer a replicable model for enhancing recruitment efforts in public health research involving community partnerships.
• Recommendations are provided to assist other researchers in achieving their recruitment and data collection objectives within CBPR frameworks.