The experience of remote recruitment for Essential Coaching for Every Mother during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction and aims:Due to physical distancing recommendations because of the COVID-19 pandemic, recruitment approaches for perinatal research needed to shift from in-person to remote. The purpose of this study is to describe the recruitment and retention of women for an mHealth intervention study for Essential Coaching for Every Mother.Methods:Three methods were used for recruitment: social media, posters in hospital, and media outreach. First time mothers were eligible for enrollment antenatally (37+ weeks) and postnatally (<3 weeks). Eligibility screening occurred remotely via text message. Outcomes were days to recruit 75 participants, eligibility vs. ineligibility rates, dropout and exclusion reasons, survey completion rates, perinatal timing of enrollment, and recruitment sources.Results:Recruitment ran from 15 July to 19 September 2020 (67 days) with 200 potential participants screened and 88 enrolled. It took 50 days to enroll 75 participants. Women recruited antenatally were more likely to receive all intervention messages (68 vs. 19%) and miss fewer messages (6.4 vs. 13.8) than women enrolled postnatally. Participants heard about the study through family/friends (31%), news (20%), Facebook groups/ads (30%), posters (12%), or other (7%).Conclusion:Antenatal recruitment resulted in participants enrolling earlier and receiving more messages. Remote recruitment was a feasible way to recruit, with word of mouth and media outreach being most successful, followed by Facebook.

Participants’ Perceptions of Essential Coaching for Every Mother—a Canadian Text Message–Based Postpartum Program: Process Evaluation of a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Similar to the feasibility study [ 25 ], there was significant interest in the Essential Coaching for Every Mother program. Recruitment occurred quickly (8 months) through the use of completely remote, passive strategies.…”

“…In the feasibility study examining the program, less than half of the participants received the full messages [ 25 ], compared to almost two-thirds in this study. This could be partially explained as this study specifically targeted recruitment during the antenatal period on the basis of lessons learned during the feasibility study, which seems to have worked in terms of ensuring that more participants received the full design of messages.…”

“…Messages are sent automatically on the basis of the newborn’s date of birth. In both the pilot feasibility study [ 25 ] and the RCT (currently under review), the Essential Coaching for Every Mother program was found to improve maternal self-efficacy and decreased postpartum anxiety.…”

Effectiveness of the “Essential Coaching for Every Mother” postpartum text message program on maternal psychosocial outcomes: A randomized controlled trial

“…First, the Essential Coaching for Every Mother program was developed using the social cognitive theory of behavioral change 39 and was focused on ensuring mothers felt supported and were provided information relevant to their current needs. Second, we were able to design the recruitment, enrollment, and evaluation process to occur completely remotely, 40 which minimized the likelihood of selection, detection, and contamination bias. We also had low attrition, with only a 4% loss to follow-up at the six-week follow-up time point.…”