The VidaSana Study: Recruitment Strategies for Longitudinal Assessment of Egocentric Hispanic Immigrant Networks.

Mariana Lopez-Owens,Karla Armenta,Gerardo Maupomé,Cindy Gil,Kristen Starkey

doi:10.3390/ijerph15122878

Abstract

We disseminate the recruitment strategies used in the five-year VidaSana study (started in 2017) in the Midwest region of the United States, targeting recently arrived Hispanic immigrants. VidaSana aims to follow immigrants within six months of arrival for 24 months to (1) characterize features of networks (personal and community) that improve or undermine dental health; and (2) further refine methods to quantify the evolution of egocentric networks, using social network methodology. We implemented several strategies to promote and recruit potential participants into the study. We collaborate with agents serving Indiana’s Hispanic communities using three levels of visibility. The broad level includes radio advertisements, TV interviews, newspaper advertisements, and targeted Facebook advertisements. Intermediate level visibility includes posting flyers in schools, employment agencies, immigrant welcome centers, and Hispanic businesses; making announcements at church/temple and school events; tabling at community, church and school events; and a pervasive adaptation of our strategies to the requirements of our partners. Lastly, the individualized level includes direct referrals by partners through word of mouth. From the initial 13 months of recruitment (494 screened contacts and 202 recruited participants), the most successful recruitment strategies appear to be a combination of intermediate- and individual-level strategies; specifically, face-to-face recruitment at school events, direct referrals from our community partners, and tabling at community/school/church events. The current interim findings and future final findings will help guide recruitment and retention strategies for studies focused on immigrants in the current climate of heightened immigration regulations and enforcement.

Highlights

Poor oral health has been disproportionately documented in Hispanic communities, creating substantial oral health disparities (OHD)
The type of questions we pose for formal discussion and scheduled follow-up include: What type of organizations should we look at? How should we go about contacting organizations of interest? How useful will contacting this organization be for us, how much leverage will we get from them? We examine trends of recruitment and retention numbers per site against calendar expectations to meet recruitment and retention targets
It is important to note, that some contacts may have qualified for the study, 12 chose to not participate for reasons pertaining to conflicting schedules, available time to complete the survey, or upon learning that the study expected them to complete four surveys in 24 months

Summary

Introduction

Poor oral health has been disproportionately documented in Hispanic communities, creating substantial oral health disparities (OHD). Mexican Americans (MA) and Central Americans (CA). Have some of the worst oral health markers, including outcomes for caries, gingivitis or chronic periodontitis, the likelihood of having had a dental exam for oral cancer, and for using the dental care system in the preceding 12 months [1]. Undocumented immigrants face greater barriers that prevent them from accessing government-funded health programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid or other programs that may provide dental care coverage [2]. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 2878; doi:10.3390/ijerph15122878 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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