Feasibility of a patient-driven approach to recruiting older adults, caregivers, and clinicians for provider-patient communication research.
OBJECTIVE
This report describes the implementation of a novel, patient-driven approach to recruitment for a study of interpersonal communication in a primary care setting involving persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD), their family caregivers, and their primary care providers (PCPs).


METHODS
Patients and caregivers were centrally recruited from a university-based memory clinic, followed by the recruitment of patient's individual PCPs. Recruitment tracking, naturalistic observation, and survey methods were used to evaluate recruitment success.


CONCLUSIONS
About half of the patients and caregivers (n = 54; 51%) and most of the PCPs (n = 31; 76%) who we approached agreed to an audiorecording of the patient's next PCP visit. Characteristics of patient, caregiver, and PCP participants were compared to those of nonparticipants. Patient characteristics did not differ by participation status. Caregivers who volunteered for the study were more likely to be female and married than were those who declined to participate. Compared to nonparticipants, PCPs who agreed to the study were appraised slightly more favorably by patients' caregivers on a measure of satisfaction with care on the day of the visit. The vast majority of participating PCPs (95%) reported that the study had little or no impact on the flow of routine clinical operations.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings support the feasibility of a patient-driven approach to recruitment for studies involving multiple linked participants. Our discussion highlights possible advantages of such an approach, including the potential to empower patient participants while achieving maximum variability within the pool of clinician participants.
Lingler
Jennifer H
JH
University of Pittsburgh Schools of Nursing and Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, USA. linglerjh@upmc.edu
Martire
Lynn M
LM
Hunsaker
Amanda E
AE
Greene
Michele G
MG
Dew
Mary Amanda
MA
Schulz
Richard
R
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000544:Alzheimer Disease; D017028:Caregivers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003142:Communication; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D018579:Patient Selection; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011594:Psychometrics; D012106:Research; D035844:Researcher-Subject Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013637:Tape Recording