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P1‐544: FREQUENCY OF PERCEIVED NEEDS IN PUERTO RICAN ELDERLY AT SIX MONTHS AND A YEAR AFTER HURRICANE MARIA
Author(s) -
Da Silva Ian,
Gonzalez Ramirez Ginette N.,
Rodriguez Natalia,
Nieves Cristina,
Oppenheimer Lawrence,
Rosado Andres,
Aranda Sebastian,
Rodriguez Derick,
Abreu Ricardo,
Baez Luis,
Nieves José,
Valentin Eric Miranda,
Rivera Horacio Serrano,
Jiménez-Velazquez Ivonne Z.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2019.06.1149
Subject(s) - puerto rican , psychological intervention , distress , gerontology , psychology , medicine , demography , geography , nursing , clinical psychology , sociology , anthropology
Background:The recruitment of older adults into research remains one of the primary challenges in the study of aging and Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer’s studies tend to have high participant burden and it often limits the ethnic and economic diversity of aging cohorts.We investigated the effectiveness of various recruitment techniques in enrolling Mexican American and Non-Hispanic White elders into aging research. Methods:The Health and Aging Brain Study among Latino Elders (HABLE) Study is a community based, epidemiological study of cognitive aging among Mexican American and non-Hispanic White elders. The study will recruit 1,000 Mexican Americans and 1,000 Non-Hispanic Whites. The HABLE study uses a combination of community based participatory research methods and targeted marketing for recruitment. For this pilot project we collected and analyzed recruitment and enrollment data, such as: type of recruitment event (print media, word of mouth, community talks, etc.), return on participant contact, and participant follow-through. Data was split by ethnicity and recruitment approach. Results:The total number of new potential participants reached was 2,235. Of that, 1058 (47.3%) were scheduled for a study visit; of those scheduled, 867 (81.9%) completed the study. When broken down by ethnicity, most Non-Hispanic Whites were recruited through: word of mouth (30.3%), print media (26.5%) and our referral program (17.0%). On the other hand, most Mexican Americans were recruited through: word of mouth (37.3%), community events/talks (25.6%) and non-paid local TVand newspaper (7.7%). Less fruitful efforts include: social media, health fairs and physician referrals. Conclusions: Recruiting elders into aging research involves varying types of recruitment techniques depending on the target population.Word of mouth was the most important overall recruitment strategy. Our data shows that recruiting elderly Mexican Americans requires a direct approach; community events/ talks in which our staff was present and interacting with attendees were highly effective. Non-Hispanic Whites responded mostly to an indirect approach: print media (brochures, postcards or paid newspaper advertisements). Overall our successful enrollment strategies and our acquired understanding of the ethnic differences in recruitment techniques can be used in the future to recruit more elderly minorities into research.