Research Recruitment in Home Care in an Era of Scams and Advocacy

Abstract

Recruitment is the cornerstone of research involving human beings. Most of what has been written involved institutional recruitment, yet the past two decades have seen an exponential rise in the delivery of home care. This shift has been accompanied by an increase in the volume of research conducted in homecare, and the majority of home care recipients are elderly. The elderly experience a disproportionate occurrence of consumer fraud and are increasingly reluctant to give strangers access to their homes. Advocacy groups have made formidable contributions to raising the awareness among older persons of risks to their person and finances. The aim of this article is to raise awareness of the importance of recruitment in the home care community and to recommend to researchers that they partner with community agencies and advocacy groups to inform citizens of the value of their participation in research in home care, and the benefits.