Proactive Strategies to Optimize Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention of Latin American Immigrants and Refugees in Community-Engaged Research
Mentor 1
Gabriela Nagy
Start Date
28-4-2023 12:00 AM
Description
Community-engaged research is key in addressing relevant health problems faced by communities that have been systematically underinvested in (e.g., Latinx immigrants/refugees). There is documented evidence of the benefits of community-engaged research (e.g., changes in policies, programs, practices, etc.) which can result in an improvement of the overall health of historically disadvantaged communities and an increase in research participation rates of ethnic minorities and immigrant communities. To this end, community-engaged research can be instrumental in the inclusion of communities that have been historically underrepresented in research. There remains a need to address how community-engaged research can be implemented to maximize the desired outcomes of the programs for disadvantaged communities. The present study demonstrates the application of community-engaged health equity research in the context of an ongoing trial for a psychosocial intervention (“Cultivating Resilience”) designed to reduce acculturative stress in Latinx immigrants and refugees compared to a waitlist control. We describe barriers to engagement in research within the Latinx population with matched strategies to offset these barriers to maximize recruitment, engagement, and retention. Barriers identified by our team include lack of participation, language, location, competing responsibilities leading to lack of availability, mistrust and among others. We developed the following strategies to combat these barriers, which include recruitment at different community sites, convenient times and locations at different community sites, providing appropriate compensation, creation of study materials that are culturally and linguistically relevant, and convening a multidisciplinary Community Advisory Board. The findings from this project can serve as a model for other teams seeking to engage the Latinx population, which has often been described as “hard to reach”. These strategies can provide guidance in the recruitment, engagement and retention of Latinx immigrants/refugees participants in future community-engage research.
Proactive Strategies to Optimize Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention of Latin American Immigrants and Refugees in Community-Engaged Research
Community-engaged research is key in addressing relevant health problems faced by communities that have been systematically underinvested in (e.g., Latinx immigrants/refugees). There is documented evidence of the benefits of community-engaged research (e.g., changes in policies, programs, practices, etc.) which can result in an improvement of the overall health of historically disadvantaged communities and an increase in research participation rates of ethnic minorities and immigrant communities. To this end, community-engaged research can be instrumental in the inclusion of communities that have been historically underrepresented in research. There remains a need to address how community-engaged research can be implemented to maximize the desired outcomes of the programs for disadvantaged communities. The present study demonstrates the application of community-engaged health equity research in the context of an ongoing trial for a psychosocial intervention (“Cultivating Resilience”) designed to reduce acculturative stress in Latinx immigrants and refugees compared to a waitlist control. We describe barriers to engagement in research within the Latinx population with matched strategies to offset these barriers to maximize recruitment, engagement, and retention. Barriers identified by our team include lack of participation, language, location, competing responsibilities leading to lack of availability, mistrust and among others. We developed the following strategies to combat these barriers, which include recruitment at different community sites, convenient times and locations at different community sites, providing appropriate compensation, creation of study materials that are culturally and linguistically relevant, and convening a multidisciplinary Community Advisory Board. The findings from this project can serve as a model for other teams seeking to engage the Latinx population, which has often been described as “hard to reach”. These strategies can provide guidance in the recruitment, engagement and retention of Latinx immigrants/refugees participants in future community-engage research.
