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Recruitment outcomes, challenges and lessons learned: the Healthy Communities Study
Author(s) -
Sagatov R. D. F.,
John L. V.,
Gregoriou M.,
Arteaga S. S.,
Weber S.,
Payn B.,
Strauss W.,
Weinstein N.,
CollieAkers V.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
pediatric obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.226
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 2047-6310
pISSN - 2047-6302
DOI - 10.1111/ijpo.12455
Subject(s) - medicine , socioeconomic status , ethnic group , childhood obesity , inclusion (mineral) , formative assessment , obesity , gerontology , environmental health , family medicine , population , overweight , political science , psychology , social psychology , pedagogy , law
Summary Background The Healthy Communities Study (HCS) was a national study of community programs and policies that aimed to address childhood obesity; it necessitated recruitment of a large sample of children from communities throughout the United States. Objective The HCS aimed to complete visits with an average of 45 children and 12 key informants from at least 120 communities, diverse with respect to region of the country, urbanicity, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity and intensity of community programs and policies that aim to address childhood obesity. Methods Purchased address lists were utilized to select households for recruitment during Wave 1 of the study, and recruitment of families through schools was employed for Wave 2. Results The HCS successfully obtained approval from 149 school districts and 478 schools in 130 communities, recruited 5138 families, and interviewed 1421 key informants to allow for characterization of overall intensity of obesity prevention/treatment efforts in each community. Conclusions Lessons learned are presented. Future studies should plan for inclusion of the following in development of recruitment strategies: literature review, formative research, pilot testing, and ongoing monitoring and adjustment.