Volume 27, Issue 5: October, 2000

Abstract

DEALING WITH DIVERSITY: RECRUITING CHURCHES AND WOMEN FOR A RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF MAMMOGRAPHY PROMOTION

Kathryn Pitkin Derose, MPH Jennifer Hawes-Dawson, BA Sarah A. Fox, EdD, MSPH Noris Maldonado, MA Audrey Tatum, BA Raynard Kington, MD, PhD

There is little documentation about the recruitment process for church-based health education programs. In this study, the authors recruit African American, Latino, and white churches and women members (age 50 to 80) for a randomized church-based trial of mammography promotion in Los Angeles County. Efforts to enhance recruitment began 10 months before churches were invited to participate and included a variety of commu-nity- based strategies. Subsequently, 45 churches were recruited over a 5-month period through group pastor breakfast meetings and church-specific follow-up. In close collaboration with the 45 churches, the authors administered church-based surveys over 6 months and identified 1,967 age-eligible women who agreed to be contacted by the program team. It was found that an extended resource intensive period of relationship-building and community-based activities were necessary to conduct church-based programs effectively, particularly among older and ethnically diverse urban populations.