Recruitment of African Americans for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment Research

Authors

Georgia Michalopoulou, Wayne State University School of MedicineFollow
Pamela Falzarano, Wayne State University School of Medicine
David Rosenberg, Wayne State University School of Medicine

Keywords

African Americans; Human experimentation in medicine; Medicine – Research; Minorities; Minority research; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Subject recruitment

Disciplines

Community-Based Research | Medicine and Health | Psychiatry and Psychology | Public Health | Race and Ethnicity

Abstract

A systematic review of recruitment approaches was conducted as a step towards creating a culturally sensitive approach to enhance participation of African Americans into our Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) treatment research. From this review, a recruitment plan providing a collaborative partnership between the African American community and the clinical investigators was adopted. We sought to increase participation in OCD research by developing culturally sensitive educational materials, implementing strategies such as recruiter ethnic match, encouraging individuals to participate by a pastor, and providing education in the community that attempted to decrease stigmatization of mental illness and target cultural suspicion of institutional research. Despite positive responses from direct community involvement at churches and efforts to increase minority participation by utilizing recruiters and recruitment materials representative of the population, difficulties in recruitment remained.

Recommended Citation

Michalopoulou, Georgia; Falzarano, Pamela; and Rosenberg, David (2009) "Recruitment of African Americans for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment Research," Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/jhdrp/vol3/iss1/6