SEARCHOTHERpublic health, epidemiology

other·public health, epidemiology, oncology, nutrition, research methods·PMC10019415

Effective Recruitment Strategies Utilized to Examine Dietary Practices of Blacks in New York City in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities · 4 authors, 4 centres

AI SUMMARY

FIDELITY 100%

This summary was generated by AI from a single paper. It has not been reviewed by a clinician and is not clinical advice. Verify against the source before acting on it.

AGENT 01 · STRUCTURED SUMMARY

TRACE TO SOURCE

“

TL;DR

This study describes the recruitment process for a survey of Black adults in New York City about dietary practices and colorectal cancer screening, finding that a two-tiered engagement model led by a community-trusted researcher was effective.

Full summary

374 CHARS

The primary researcher, an African-American woman, was key to building trust. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a halt but also strengthened community relationships. The results highlight that mistrust was more pronounced in Caribbean communities, suggesting tailored strategies are needed, and that historical mistrust may not be the dominant barrier across all Black subgroups.

STUDY TYPE

other

SPECIALTY

public health

SUMMARISED BY

AI pipeline

FIDELITY CHECK

100% · A

ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10019415

Effective Recruitment Strategies Utilized to Examine Dietary Practices of Blacks in New York City in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

READ THE FULL PAPER

ABSTRACT

Abstract Background Black Americans have long been considered a hard-to-reach population for research studies, whether quantitative surveys or for clinical research. Studies have explored multiple rationales for why Blacks are hard to reach, and the explanations have included historical mistrust, the need to assess the benefits from participating in research, and the expense of spending time participating in research, among others. What has not been explored is the continuous merging of all individuals who identify as Black, particularly when exploring reasonings for a lower interest in participating in research. This paper addresses this issue by investigating the participation rate of individuals identifying as Black in New York City in a study exploring dietary practices as a predictor of colorectal cancer screening behavior. Participants were asked to self-report screening behavior, intent to screen, and dietary and other lifestyle practices. In this analysis, we discuss the unique experience encountered in recruiting Black American participants to participate in this study, particularly amid a worldwide pandemic of COVID-19. Methods The methodology for this study included a systematic review of the literature, a two-part recruitment process, and data analysis. The first part of the recruitment process involved registering individuals who were interested in participating in the study and consented to be contacted and reminded to come to the location where they were recruited on a scheduled date to complete the actual survey. With this part of the recruitment process, we engaged with n = 488 Black men and women between November 2019 and February 2020. The second part of the recruitment process utilized availability sampling outside of NYC subway stations and other high traffic areas as well as large community events. We engaged with n = 319 individuals. Total engagement with n = 807 individuals yielded a sample size for the survey of 504 completed surveys. Results Of the total engaged ( n = 807), 14% declined to participate due to a lack of time, 11% chose not to participate in the study because the incentive was not enough to compensate for their time 0.02% declined due to not trusting institutions conducting research, and 0.03% did not feel comfortable understanding the questions due to a language barrier. We had a sample size of ( n = 504) of the total 807 individuals engaged. Conclusions Recruiting Black Americans into our colorectal cancer study did not prove to be challenging with the two-tiered model of recruitment that involved consistent engagement and having the primary researcher lead this recruitment process. Extracting within race differences is critical in demystifying the conclusion of numerous studies that African Americans specifically are hesitant to participate due to historical mistrust related to tragedies such as the Tuskegee Experiment and numerous other occurrences of African Americans being treated as guinea pigs for the advancement of research. This data contributes knowledge to this field regarding understanding recruitment challenges in the Black population, but further work needs to be conducted. Mistrust in this study primarily came from the individuals engaged in Caribbean neighborhoods, where many expressed more comfort with home remedies and bush doctors when asked about colorectal cancer screening and declined to participate. Innovative communication, qualitative research, and recruitment strategies tailored to the Caribbean population are needed in future studies to address this recruitment challenge that we experienced.

CITATION EXPORT

Cicely K Johnson, May May Leung, Grace X Ma et al.. Effective Recruitment Strategies Utilized to Examine Dietary Practices of Blacks in New York City in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01559-9

AUTHORS

4 · 4 CENTRES

Cicely K Johnson, May May Leung, Grace X Ma, Olorunseun O Ogunwobi

1Hunter College Center for Cancer Health Disparities Research, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, NY USA
2Nutrition Program, School of Urban Public Health, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, NY USA
3Center for Asian Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA USA
4Department of Biological Sciences, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, NY USA