title: The Jackson Heart KIDS Pilot Study: Theory-Informed Recruitment in an African American Population.
abstract: Recruitment for large cohort studies is typically challenging, particularly when the pool of potential participants is limited to the descendants of individuals enrolled in a larger, longitudinal "parent" study. The increasing complexity of family structures and dynamics can present challenges for recruitment in offspring. Few best practices exist to guide effective and efficient empirical approaches to participant recruitment. Social and behavioral theories can provide insight into social and cultural contexts influencing individual decision-making and facilitate the development strategies for effective diffusion and marketing of an offspring cohort study. The purpose of this study was to describe the theory-informed recruitment approaches employed by the Jackson Heart KIDS Pilot Study (JHKS), a prospective offspring feasibility study of 200 African American children and grandchildren of the Jackson Heart Study (JHS)-the largest prospective cohort study examining cardiovascular disease among African American adults. Participant recruitment in the JHKS was founded on concepts from three theoretical perspectives-the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, Strength of Weak Ties, and Marketing Theory. Tailored recruitment strategies grounded in participatory strategies allowed us to exceed enrollment goals for JHKS Pilot Study and develop a framework for a statewide study of African American adolescents.
authors.affiliation: University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS, USA.|Myrlie Evers-Williams Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities, Jackson, MS, USA.
authors.forename: Bettina M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Beech
authors.affiliation: Myrlie Evers-Williams Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities, Jackson, MS, USA. marino.bruce@vanderbilt.edu.|Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA. marino.bruce@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Marino A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bruce
authors.affiliation: Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USA.
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Crump
authors.affiliation: University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS, USA.
authors.forename: Gina E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Hamilton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D015444:Exercise; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D040541:Marketing; D018579:Patient Selection; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012890:Sleep; D066269:Social Theory; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Adolescents; African Americans; Cohort studies; Diffusion of innovation; Population studies; Recruitment