Enhancing recruitment of African-American families into genetic research: lessons learned from Project SuGar

Despite some recruitment success in biomedical research among minorities, participation by African-American families into research, specifically genetic research, is lower than Caucasian families (Bowen and Penchaszadeh Community Genet 11:189-190, 2008). Such low participation rates by African-Americans prevent the exploration of specific ethnic differences in patterns of diseases and diminish the identification of specific disease risks among ethnic groups (Bowen and Penchaszadeh Community Genet 11:189-190, 2008). Although African-Americans are heterogeneous, few studies exist to describe effective recruitment strategies across diverse African-American populations, and even fewer studies share effective strategies for the enrollment of African-American families into genetic research. A process evaluation of recruitment strategies used by Project SuGar (a community-based genetic research study focusing on families affected by type 2 diabetes) to enroll African-American families into genetic research was conducted. Our goal was to enroll 400 affected African-American families, and our results yielded 672 families, (n=672). Our success can be attributed to the formation of a Citizen Advisory Committee, recruitment style, flexible protocol, and formal agreement with community health centers. We found that African-American families will participate in research and that providing tangible benefits to the community and utilizing a sense of patience can enhance positive recruitment results. Data from this study may be used to recruit geographically isolated families into genetic research.