Allison Williams, Wendy Duggleby, Jenny Ploeg, Maureen Markle-Reid, Heather Moquin, Jilan Yang, Overcoming Recruitment Challenges for Securing a Survey Sample of Caregivers of Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions, Journal of Human Health Research, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2017, Pages 16-24, ISSN 2576-9383, https://doi.org/10.14302/issn.2576-9383.jhhr-17-1787.
(https://oap-researcharticles.org/jhhr/article/627)
Abstract: This paper discusses the challenges in recruiting a diverse sample of caregivers of older adults with multiple chronic conditions in two Canadian provinces – Ontario and Alberta, as well as the successful strategies to overcome these challenges. Four strategies were employed to overcome the recruitment challenges experienced. These included: (1) using a multi-pronged recruitment strategy with persistence; (2) knowing the location of the sample in the community; (3) weekly reporting by team members primarily responsible for recruitment and data collection, and; (4) regular team meetings to build on successful recruitment strategies while troubleshooting new approaches. These four strategies complemented one another. The most effective strategies in Alberta (recruiting over 50% of participants) were newspaper advertisements and working with the Alberta Caregivers Association and the Alzheimer Society of Alberta/NWT. In Ontario, the most effective strategy was door to door flyers (recruiting 61.5% of participants).
Keywords: sample recruitment; caregivers; multiple chronic conditions; survey research