Evaluation of conceptual framework for recruitment of African American patients with breast cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the Heiney-Adams Recruitment Framework (H-ARF); to delineate a recruitment plan for a randomized, behavioral trial (RBT) based on H-ARF; and to provide evaluation data on its implementation.


METHODS
All data for this investigation originated from a recruitment database created for an RBT designed to test the effectiveness of a therapeutic group convened via teleconference for African American women with breast cancer.


RESULTS
Major H-ARF concepts include social marketing and relationship building. The majority of social marketing strategies yielded 100% participant recruitment. Greater absolute numbers were recruited via Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act waivers. Using H-ARF yielded a high recruitment rate (66%).


CONCLUSIONS
Application of H-ARF led to successful recruitment in an RBT. The findings highlight three areas that researchers should consider when devising recruitment plans: absolute numbers versus recruitment rate, cost, and efficiency with institutional review board-approved access to protected health information.


CONCLUSIONS
H-ARF may be applied to any clinical or population-based research setting because it provides direction for researchers to develop a recruitment plan based on the target audience and cultural attributes that may hinder or help recruitment.
Heiney
Sue P
SP
Cancer Prevention and Control Program, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA. heineys@mailbox.sc.edu
Adams
Swann Arp
SA
Wells
Linda M
LM
Johnson
Hiluv
H
D001741:Black or African American / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology*; D001296:Audiovisual Aids; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology*; D054521:Cultural Competency; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016294:Models, Nursing; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology; D018579:Patient Selection; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D035844:Researcher-Subject Relations / Q000523:psychology; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D040241:Social Marketing; D013685:Telecommunications; D035502:Trust; D014930:Women / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*