Recruiting and Retaining Indigenous Farmworker Participants

Abstract

There is limited information on the specific practices used to successfully recruit and retain indigenous and Latino farmworkers in research studies. This article describes the strategies used in a community-based participatory research project with indigenous agricultural workers. Participants were recruited through consulting with indigenous relatives and friends, identifying and meeting with indigenous leaders from hometown associations in countries of origin, and asking current participants to recruit fellow farmworkers. Adjustments were initiated to the second year protocol to enhance recruitment and retention. The difference in attrition rates between years one and two was statistically significant, a difference partially attributed to modifications to recruitment and retention protocol. Findings confirmed that active recruitment techniques and word-of-mouth recruitment were more effective than passive methods. Trust among academic, organization, and community partners, and shared language and culture between those doing the recruitment and the participants, contributed to sustained farmworker participation.

Community-Engaged Approaches for Minority Recruitment Into Clinical Research: A Scoping Review of the Literature

“…Collaboration was classified as the CEnR strategy for recruitment of minority participants in 21 studies. 26,29,32,37,39,42,44,47,51,53,55,58,62,64,67,69,73,75,79,80,88 These studies described partnerships with CBOs and/or unaffiliated community members who worked with target populations, frequently in CAB structures. These community partners often took the lead on recruitment efforts (recruitment partners), co-led strategic planning around recruitment, and guided health-related education/advocacy activities that also promoted research participation.…”

Social determinants of health in the Mixtec and Zapotec community in Ventura County, California

“…Many are farm workers, a group that has historically been exploited as a cheap source of labor [ 2 ]. Few studies have focused on indigenous communities in Mexico [ 3 - 6 ] or in the United States [ 7 - 11 ].…”

“…Mixtecs and Zapotecs, two indigenous groups from the Oaxaca area in Mexico, have settled in large numbers in Ventura County, California, and many are employed as farm workers with little pay and only seasonal work. Research in these and other immigrant communities is challenging due to language barriers, lack of trust, long working hours, and fear of deportation among some members of the community [ 7 ]. While some Mixtecs and Zapotecs speak Spanish and/or English, others speak only their native languages, Mixteco or Zapoteco, which are oral, not written languages.…”

Community-engaged Research with Rural Latino Adolescents: Design and Implementation Strategies to Study the Social Determinants of Health

“…However, through our awareness of our positionality as outsiders to the community and the concomitant need to build trust and rapport, we understood the benefit of incorporating the principles of respect for community stakeholders and responsiveness to community needs. Despite increased use of community-engaged methods in research, there are few examples in the literature outside of CBPR-specific studies that explore how to establish multi-sectoral partnerships, build trust and engagement among partners, and advance a thoughtful research agenda that integrates the insights of local perspectives with research expertise (Farquhar et al 2014; McQuiston et al 2005). Our goal in this article is to elucidate our efforts in these domains.…”