Reaching the “Hard-to-Reach”: Recruitment of Rural-Dwelling Adults With Disabilities

Abstract

Introduction: There are 46 million individuals living in rural America that require unique consideration for rural health research. Recruitment of research participants from disparity groups can be difficult as these groups can be hard-to-reach. In particular, strategies for reaching rural-dwelling Americans with disabilities are not well-documented. Furthermore, researchers sometimes underestimate the time and effort needed to recruit participants from hard-to-reach populations. The purpose of this article is to report the methods used to recruit 12 rural-dwelling adults with disabilities into a qualitative study. Method: The recruitment strategies discussed in this article were used in a grounded theory study. Results: Fifty percent of the sample in this study was recruited via a community gatekeeper, 33% responded to a classified advertisement, and 17% were recruited via the researchers’ professional networks. Discussion: Lessons learned yield insights as to effective recruitment methods for rural dwellers as well as other hard-to-reach populations.

Routinely measuring symptom burden and health-related quality of life in dialysis patients: first results from the Dutch registry of patient-reported outcome measures

“…In line with the literature, we found that older patients with a higher SES [ 18 ] and male [ 45 ] patients were more likely to participate. Further research focussing on non-responders is needed to gain more insights into barriers and potential facilitators for participation to implement recruitment strategies tailored to these more difficult-to-reach patients [ 46 , 47 ].…”

Pursuing Well-Being Among Rural-Dwelling Adults With Disabilities

“…Participants were recruited through community gatekeepers such as church staff and Veterans’ Services Officers, newspaper classified advertisements, word-of-mouth, and professional networks. Sampling and recruitment methods are detailed elsewhere (Thurman & Harrison, Manuscript under review). Participants were offered US$25 for participating in each interview.…”

Recruitment Strategies to Optimize Participation by Diverse Populations

“…The importance of having a multicultural team is underappreciated and underutilized in current research practices (Thurman & Harrison, 2020). In fact, the lack of a multicultural team is a social and ethical issue (Mcauliffe, Grothaus, Jensen, & Michel, 2012).…”

“…Internal diversity supports the highest regard for intercultural communication. It promotes maximum outcomes for observing professional and personal skills in communication and language and provides motivation to participate for those participants from hard-to-reach populations (Thurman & Harrison, 2020).…”

“…In using social media for recruitment, time spent building relationships can be significantly reduced. It increases the use of the gatekeepers’ talents in accessing communities where respect and trust already exists and expands the process of working together (Thurman & Harrison, 2020). In our study, sharing influence across social media platforms yielded higher access to participation in groups in the least amount of time.…”