title: Successful recruitment strategies for school-based health promotion: experiences from CATCH.
abstract: School-based research designs in the 1990s often require that a large number of schools be recruited to participate in studies. Therefore, effective recruitment and maintenance of schools becomes an important activity for ensuring the integrity of the study design. The Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) is the largest school-based health promotion research project yet undertaken; 96 schools (24 per field site) were successfully recruited and retained for this cardiovascular disease risk reduction project. This article describes general recruitment strategies used at the four CATCH sites, a description of how Social Learning Theory guided these activities, a discussion of logistical considerations, and recommended recruitment strategies for future school-based research.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Minneapolis 55455-1015.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Lytle
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bachman
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wambsgans
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Stone
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Budman
mesh_terms: D003256:Community Participation; D003657:Decision Making; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006289:Health Planning Support; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D007318:Inservice Training; D017146:Models, Organizational; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D012572:School Health Services; D014741:Video Recording