Recruitment of African Americans and Asian Americans With Late-Life Depression and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Objective The purpose of this study was to compare the relative effectiveness of several different strategies for recruiting elderly Asians, African Americans, and whites to participate in mental health research. Participants A total of 35 African American, 24 Asian American, and 215 white participants were phone screened for potential enrollment into a University of California, San Francisco, Department of Psychiatry treatment outcome study for older adults (aged 60 years and older) with major depression and mild cognitive impairment. Design The methods by which participants were recruited were recorded, coded into composite categories, and statistically analyzed to determine whether certain recruitment strategies were disproportionately effective for recruiting participants from the three racial groups. Results Fisher's exact test analyses revealed that Asians and African Americans were significantly less likely than whites to be recruited through mental health-based methods, and African Americans were significantly more likely than whites and Asians to be recruited through referrals rather than solicitations. Logistic regression, which controlled for potential confounds, largely supported these findings. Conclusions Findings suggest that the recruitment of elderly African or Asian Americans into mental health treatment outcome research can be facilitated by a flexible consumer-oriented strategy that integrates multiple recruitment methods. Establishing study credibility through nonmental health media and professional referral sources may be especially effective in engaging the participation of elderly Asian Americans; and cultivating ongoing relationships with key gatekeepers, who can observe benefits to the community, may be particularly effective in recruiting elderly African Americans.