Recruitment | Research Registry Toolkit

Planning for Recruitment

The information you learn from your formative research and conversations with stakeholder partners can help you design your registry in a way that will promote participation. You should design recruitment and enrollment processes that address the barriers and concerns of potential participants and speak to factors that may motivate them to join. In general, you should strive to make it easy for participants to enroll.

For example:

If you find that transportation is a barrier for an in-person enrollment visit, you might explore online or phone enrollment processes, providing transportation or reimbursing transportation costs, or conducting enrollment visits at a community organization.
If you find that scheduling is a barrier for an in-person enrollment visit, you might explore offering evening or weekend appointments, providing childcare, or providing options to enroll online.
If you find that altruism is a motivating factor, you might design recruitment materials that emphasize the potential to help others through participating in research

UNC-Chapel Hill Tips and Tricks: Recruitment

For advice on recruitment, request a consultation from NC TraCS’ Recruitment Services
For advice on working with stakeholders or engaging with potential participants, request a consultation from NC TraCS’ Community and Stakeholder Engagement
To learn about contacting potential participants through MyUNCChart, request a consultation from NC TraCS’ Biomedical Informatics Services
List your registry on the Research for Me website

Looking for Literature?

Below are examples of studies assessing various recruitment methods among different populations and registry topics:

Recruitment Strategies

Recruitment strategies should be tailored to your registry and the people you are trying to recruit. In other words, your formative work and conversations with stakeholders should guide your selection of recruitment strategies.

Recruitment Reminders

Providing a monetary incentive (i.e., cash or gift card) to compensate participants for their time and effort can help promote enrollment.
Recruitment is a research activity; remember to obtain IRB approval before starting the recruitment process. Recruitment materials (e.g., posters, email messages, or social media ads) also need IRB approval.

Type of Strategy	Examples
Clinic or hospital-based	Identifying potential participants via medical records or provider referral and contacting them to invite them to participate Conducting in-person recruitment at clinics or hospitals Asking healthcare providers to share information about the registry with potential participants Posting flyers or electronic advertisements in clinics or hospitals
Mail and phone recruitment	Sending recruitment letters, post cards, or brochures to potential participants Calling potential participants via phone as a follow-up to a mailed recruitment letter, or without prior mailing if institutional policy allows
Multi-media recruitment methods	Developing TV and radio ads Disseminating information via social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) Utilizing email listservs at your institution or those targeting your population of interest Posting your study on research websites such as Research for Me (at UNC) or ResearchMatch.org, or non-research websites, such as Craigslist Developing a study website and including a link to the website on other recruitment materials
Community-based	Tabling at health fairs or other community events Partnering with community organizations to share information about the project with their constituents (e.g., recruiting at an event, sharing information via their email listserv) Posting flyers in the community

Example of Follow-Up Communication Methods	Examples
	Clinic or hospital-based		Identifying potential participants via medical records or provider referral and contacting them to invite them to participate Conducting in-person recruitment at clinics or hospitals Asking healthcare providers to share information about the registry with potential participants Posting flyers or electronic advertisements in clinics or hospitals
	Mail and phone recruitment		Sending recruitment letters, post cards, or brochures to potential participants Calling potential participants via phone as a follow-up to a mailed recruitment letter, or without prior mailing if institutional policy allows
	Multi-media recruitment methods		Developing TV and radio ads Disseminating information via social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) Utilizing email listservs at your institution or those targeting your population of interest Posting your study on research websites such as Research for Me (at UNC) or ResearchMatch.org, or non-research websites, such as Craigslist Developing a study website and including a link to the website on other recruitment materials
	Community-based		Tabling at health fairs or other community events Partnering with community organizations to share information about the project with their constituents (e.g., recruiting at an event, sharing information via their email listserv) Posting flyers in the community

Designing Recruitment Materials

Creating effective recruitment materials is an important part of the recruitment process. Strategies for creating high quality, effective materials include:

Working with stakeholder partners to design recruitment materials and/or asking them to review your materials for clarity and relevance
Testing your recruitment materials with your target population, such as holding a focus group to obtain feedback
Considering health literacy of readers and using plain language in recruitment and other study materials

Relevant Resources: General Recruitment Strategies

NC TraCS Recruitment & Retention:
CTSA Trial Innovation Network: Recruitment & Retention Toolkit
National Institute of Mental Health: Points to Consider about Recruitment and Retention when Preparing a Clinical Research Study