Client Recruitment, Retention, and Data Collection

1
Client Recruitment, Retention, and Data
Collection

• Chris Ringwalt, DrPH
• Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
• Janer Hernandez, Ph.D., CADAC II, LADC INECAPT
  Associate
• Danielle LazarAccess Community Health Network

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Recruitment if you build it, will they come?

• Recruitment of underserved high risk populations,
  particularly minorities, is a challenge there
  are no easy solutions
• Requires a very substantial investment of energy
  and commitment
• Two key strategies, involving
• Collaborating with CBOs
• Selecting and training field staff

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Developing effective community partnerships

• Administrators of CBOs may be motivated to assist
  in recruitment if project likely to
• Provide insights into their clients needs
• Enhance or improve their services
• Relationship between PD and CBOs are critical, as
  are rewards to CBO
• Sense of common goals
• Support for collaboration by respected colleagues
• Higher profile in community
• Publication credit
• Additional income (if possible)
• Clear benefits to clients
• Minimal increase in burden on staff
• Recruitment protocols mutually developed

4
Selecting and training field staff

• Building rapport with clients is key to
  successful recruitment efforts
• Cultural compatibility and competence essential
  with minority clients
• Hiring from participant community can be helpful
• Desirable personal attributes
• Ability to communicate enthusiasm and empathy
• Respectful persistence and cheerful resilience
• Flexibility in scheduling appointments
• Non-judgmental attitude towards risk behaviors
• Ability to establish and maintain suitable
  boundaries
• Training and close supervision essential

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Preventing attrition in data collection

• Maintain continuity of contacts
• Demonstrate respect and understanding of
  respondents situations, constraints, priorities,
  and schedules
• Use empathy and reflective listening
• Listen to their stories, remember salient details
• Make service referrals as appropriate
• Problem-solve with them how to overcome
  challenges
• Gently convert nos into maybes offer to
  call back at more convenient time
• Appeal to their altruism purpose of study is to
  help others like them

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Other tricks of the trade

• Develop and update a master list anchoring
  contacts
• People who will know where they may be found or
  socialize
• Family members, friends, and neighbors
• Case managers and health care providers
• Neighborhood storeowners and bartenders
• Stress maintenance of confidentiality
• Include all plans for data collection in signed
  informed consent secured at time of recruitment

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More tricks

• Mail birthday and holiday cards
• Send fliers on brightly colored pages
• Use certified mailings requiring signatures
• Provide products like key chains and laminated
  cards, with project logo and projects toll free
  number
• Collect Social Security numbers
• Encourage respondent to call in to report all
  life changes
• Establish carefully maintained, frequently
  updated, and closely monitored computerized
  databases

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Still more tricks

• Maintain extensive contacts with
• Criminal justice and welfare system
• Homeless shelters
• Drug treatment facilities
• Bargain with parole officers for reduced
  penalties for participation in research

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Still more tricks

• Mine publicly available databases
• Phone directories
• Address listings
• Department of Corrections and Court sites
• My Space
• Facebook
• WhitePages.com
• ReferenceUSA.com
• Da.us
• ZabaSearch.com
• Use proprietary data bases
• ChoicePoints AutoTrackXP
• QuickInfo.net
• 5-15/search

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Pay them!

• Provide incentive of 20/interview (see last
  paragraph of SAMHSA Extramural Policy Statement
  No. SEPS 06-02 note that CSAP does not yet have
  its own policy in this regard)
• Respondents clearly prefer cash
• Pay them as quickly as possible
• Consider using debit cards, with same day deposit
  following each completed interview

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Good luck!

• Whats all this tracking likely to cost per
  respondent?
• Universal strategies 100
• Tailored strategies 175
• Interview time, incentives extra
• Cost too much? Do what you can afford
• Minimal acceptable response rate 70-80
• Response rates of 90 not unreasonable in
  longitudinal studies of drug abusers

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Bibliography

• American Association for Public Opinion Research
  (AAPOR) Network
• Boys, A et al. (2003). Minimizing respondent
  attrition in longitudinal research. Journal of
  Adolescence, 26, 363-373.
• De Jarlais, D. Perlis, T. Settembrino, J. (2005).
  The use of electronic debit cards in
  longitudinal data collection with geographically
  mobile drug users. Drug and Alcohol Dependence,
  77, 1-5
• Festinger, D. et al. (2008). Higher magnitude
  cash payments improve research follow-up rates
  without increasing drug use and perceived
  coercion. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 96,
  128-135.

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Bibliography (continued)

• Haggerty, K. et al. (2008). Ten years later
  Locating and interviewing children of drug
  abusers. Evaluation and Program Planning, 31,
  1-9.
• Leonard, N. et. al (2003). Successful
  recruitment and retention of participants in
  longitudinal behavioral research. AIDS Education
  and Prevention, 15, 269-281.
• Scott, C. (2004). A replicable model for
  achieving over 90 follow-up rates in
  longitudinal studies of substance abusers. Drug
  and Alcohol Dependence, 74, 21-36.