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Evaluation of Conceptual Framework for Recruitment of African American Patients With Breast Cancer

Sue P. Heiney

Swann A. Adams

Linda M. Wells

Hiluv Johnson

nursing research, African American
ONF 2010, 37(3), E160-E167. DOI: 10.1188/10.ONF.E160-E167

Purpose/Objectives: To describe the Heiney-Adams Recruitment Framework (H-ARF); to delineate a recruitment plan for a randomized, behavioral trial (RBT) based on H-ARF; and to provide evaluation data on its implementation.

Data Sources: All data for this investigation originated from a recruitment database created for an RBT designed to test the effectiveness of a therapeutic group convened via teleconference for African American women with breast cancer.

Data Synthesis: Major H-ARF concepts include social marketing and relationship building. The majority of social marketing strategies yielded 100% participant recruitment. Greater absolute numbers were recruited via Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act waivers. Using H-ARF yielded a high recruitment rate (66%).

Conclusions: Application of H-ARF led to successful recruitment in an RBT. The findings highlight three areas that researchers should consider when devising recruitment plans: absolute numbers versus recruitment rate, cost, and efficiency with institutional review board-approved access to protected health information.

Implications for Nursing: H-ARF may be applied to any clinical or population-based research setting because it provides direction for researchers to develop a recruitment plan based on the target audience and cultural attributes that may hinder or help recruitment.

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