A multipronged, adaptive approach for the recruitment of diverse community-residing elders with memory impairment: The MIND at home experience

Objective: To provide a critical review of a multipronged recruitment approach used to identify, recruit, and enroll a diverse community-based sample of persons with memory disorders into an 18-month randomized, controlled dementia care coordination trial. Methods: Descriptive analysis of a recruitment approach comprised five strategies: community liaison ("gatekeepers") method, letters sent from trusted community organizations, display and distribution of study materials in the community, research registries, and general community outreach and engagement activities. Participants were 55 community organizations and 63 staff of community organizations in Baltimore, Maryland. Participant referral sources, eligibility, enrollment status, demographics, and loss to follow-up were tracked in a relational access database. Results: In total, 1,275 referrals were received and 303 socioeconomically, cognitively, and racially diverse community-dwelling persons with cognitive disorders were enrolled. Most referrals came from letters sent from community organizations directly to clients on the study's behalf (39%) and referrals from community liaison organizations (29%). African American/black enrollees were most likely to come from community liaison organizations. Conclusion: A multipronged, adaptive approach led to the successful recruitment of diverse community-residing elders with memory impairment for an intervention trial. Key factors for success included using a range of evidence-supported outreach strategies, forming key strategic community partnerships, seeking regular stakeholder input through all research phases, and obtaining "buy-in" from community stakeholders by aligning study objectives with perceived unmet community needs.