TY - JOUR
T1 - Recruitment challenges and strategies in a home-based telehealth study
AU - Parker Oliver, Debra
AU - Demiris, George
AU - Wittenberg-Lyles, Elaine
AU - Washington, Karla
AU - Porock, Davina
PY - 2010/9/1
Y1 - 2010/9/1
N2 - The difficulty in recruiting subjects for home-based telehealth research is well documented. This article shares the recruitment statistics and experiences in the Assessment of Caregivers for Team Intervention via Videophone Encounters pilot study, a home-based telehealth intervention. The study obtained 83% of the desired sample. Challenges included issues with initial inclusion criteria, weather-related problems, timely referrals and follow-up, the enrollment process, the need for multiple visits, and unforeseen cases of multiple caregivers. Detailed monitoring and tracking of recruitment statistics and immediate response to overcome challenges were critical to the eventual recruitment success. Strategies included the reallocation of resources to add a second research site, adjustments in inclusion criteria, process improvement with the hospice admissions process, and strategies to address staff gate-keeping. Recruitment continues to be an important barrier to home-based telehealth research and the sharing of recruitment statistics, challenges, and strategies can be beneficial. Gathering of recruitment data is a critical component of pilot studies, which assists in the development of successful randomized clinical trials for future home-based telehealth research.
AB - The difficulty in recruiting subjects for home-based telehealth research is well documented. This article shares the recruitment statistics and experiences in the Assessment of Caregivers for Team Intervention via Videophone Encounters pilot study, a home-based telehealth intervention. The study obtained 83% of the desired sample. Challenges included issues with initial inclusion criteria, weather-related problems, timely referrals and follow-up, the enrollment process, the need for multiple visits, and unforeseen cases of multiple caregivers. Detailed monitoring and tracking of recruitment statistics and immediate response to overcome challenges were critical to the eventual recruitment success. Strategies included the reallocation of resources to add a second research site, adjustments in inclusion criteria, process improvement with the hospice admissions process, and strategies to address staff gate-keeping. Recruitment continues to be an important barrier to home-based telehealth research and the sharing of recruitment statistics, challenges, and strategies can be beneficial. Gathering of recruitment data is a critical component of pilot studies, which assists in the development of successful randomized clinical trials for future home-based telehealth research.
KW - hospice
KW - intervention research
KW - palliative care
KW - recruitment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77956367460&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1089/tmj.2010.0017
DO - 10.1089/tmj.2010.0017
M3 - Article
C2 - 20815752
AN - SCOPUS:77956367460
SN - 1530-5627
VL - 16
SP - 839
EP - 843
JO - Telemedicine and e-Health
JF - Telemedicine and e-Health
IS - 7
ER -