title: Recruiting and Surveying Catholic Parishes for Cancer Control Initiatives: Lessons Learned From the CRUZA Implementation Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We describe activities undertaken to conduct organizational surveys among faith-based organizations in Massachusetts as part of a larger study designed to promote parish-based cancer control programs for Latinos.
  
  
  METHODS
  Catholic parishes located in Massachusetts that provided Spanish-language mass were eligible for study participation. Parishes were identified through diocesan records and online directories. Prior to parish recruitment, we implemented a variety of activities to gain support from Catholic leaders at the diocesan level. We then recruited individual parishes to complete a four-part organizational survey, which assessed (A) parish leadership, (B) financial resources, (C) involvement in Hispanic Ministry, and (D) health and social service offerings. Our goal was to administer each survey component to a parish representatives who could best provide an organizational perspective on the content of each component (e.g., A = pastors, B = business managers, C = Hispanic Ministry leaders, and D = parish nurse or health ministry leader). Here, we present descriptive statistics on recruitment and survey administration processes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-five percent of eligible parishes responded to the survey and of these, 92% completed all four components. Completed four-part surveys required an average of 16.6 contact attempts. There were an average of 2.1 respondents per site. Pastoral staff were the most frequent respondents (79%), but they also required the most contact attempts (M = 9.3, range = 1-27). While most interviews were completed by phone (71%), one quarter were completed during in-person site visits.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We achieved a high survey completion rate among organizational representatives. Our lessons learned may inform efforts to engage and survey faith-based organizations for public health efforts.
authors: Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA jennifer_allen@dfci.harvard.edu.
authors: Jennifer D
authors: JD
authors: Allen
authors: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Laura S
authors: LS
authors: Tom
authors: National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors: Bryan
authors: B
authors: Leyva
authors: University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Rustan
authors: Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Hosffman
authors: H
authors: Ospino
authors: University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Rosalyn
authors: R
authors: Negron
authors: University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Maria Idalí
authors: MI
authors: Torres
authors: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Ana V
authors: AV
authors: Galeas
mesh_terms: D002410:Catholicism; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D008404:Massachusetts; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*
keywords: Hispanic/Latino health; churches; faith-based organizations; implementation research; organizational recruitment; survey administration