abstract: 'Research participation among vulnerable populations is often limited by

  the same socioeconomic factors that contribute to poor health.

  Identifying best practices for inclusion is critical to addressing

  health disparities. Urban public housing communities bear a

  disproportionate burden of chronic disease and may represent an

  opportunity to directly engage historically vulnerable populations in

  research designed to ultimately reduce that burden. We used mixed-method

  data to analyze recruitment effectiveness among a random sample of

  households (N = 380) across two public housing developments in Boston,

  MA who were approached for participation in a pre-COVID oral health

  study. Quantitative data from detailed recruitment tracking methods was

  analyzed to assess the relative efficiency of the methods employed.

  Field journals of study staff were qualitatively analyzed to identify

  community-specific recruitment barriers and facilitators. The

  participation rate among randomly sampled households was 28.6\% (N =

  131), with participation from primarily Hispanic (59.5\%) or Black

  (26\%) residents. Door-to-door knocking with response yielded the

  highest participation (44.8\%), followed by responses to informational

  study flyers (31\%). Primary barriers to enrollment included references

  to unemployment and employment variations, shift work, childcare

  responsibilities, time demands, and managing multiple appointments and

  social services. This study finds active, door-to-door knocking and

  return visits resolved barriers to participation, and reduced safety

  concerns and historic distrust. It''s time to consider how best to adapt

  effective pre-COVID recruitment practices for utilization under current

  and future exposure conditions as effective recruitment of populations

  such as urban public housing residents into research is only becoming

  more important.'
affiliation: 'Heaton, B (Corresponding Author), Boston Univ, Henry M Goldman Sch Dent
  Med, Dept Hlth Policy \& Hlth Serv Res, 560 Harrison Ave,3rd Floor,Rm 329, Boston,
  MA 02118 USA.

  Heaton, B (Corresponding Author), Boston Univ, Dept Epidemiol, Sch Publ Hlth, Boston,
  MA 02118 USA.

  Heaton, Brenda; Muzzi, Alicia; Gebel, Christina; Garcia, Raul I. I., Boston Univ,
  Henry M Goldman Sch Dent Med, Dept Hlth Policy \& Hlth Serv Res, 560 Harrison Ave,3rd
  Floor,Rm 329, Boston, MA 02118 USA.

  Heaton, Brenda, Boston Univ, Dept Epidemiol, Sch Publ Hlth, Boston, MA 02118 USA.

  Bernstein, Judith, Boston Univ, Dept Community Hlth Sci, Sch Publ Hlth, Boston,
  MA USA.'
author: Heaton, Brenda and Muzzi, Alicia and Gebel, Christina and Bernstein, Judith
  and Garcia, Raul I. I.
author-email: brenda9@bu.edu
author_list:
- family: Heaton
  given: Brenda
- family: Muzzi
  given: Alicia
- family: Gebel
  given: Christina
- family: Bernstein
  given: Judith
- family: Garcia
  given: Raul I. I.
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1007/s10900-023-01212-w
earlyaccessdate: APR 2023
eissn: 1573-3610
files: []
issn: 0094-5145
journal: JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY HEALTH
keywords: 'Subject recruitment; Public housing; Health disparities; Oral health;

  Minority health; Urban health'
keywords-plus: AFRICAN-AMERICANS; HEALTH; POPULATION; IMPACT
language: English
month: 2023 APR 2
number-of-cited-references: '30'
papis_id: f7b15b65ad3a97e373cd61e765a61974
ref: Heaton2023recruitmentenrollmen
times-cited: '1'
title: Recruitment and Enrollment of Low-income, Minority Residents of Urban Public
  Housing into Research
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000961557300001
usage-count-last-180-days: '2'
usage-count-since-2013: '2'
web-of-science-categories: Health Policy \& Services; Public, Environmental \& Occupational
  Health
year: '2023'