Abstract
Background
Black women are underrepresented in health-related research. Consulting Black women in the creation of recruitment materials may help increase their representation in research studies, but few of these recruitment materials have been evaluated. This manuscript reports on the impact of two ads (one featuring older women and one featuring younger women) created through multiple focus group sessions with Black women. The purpose of the ads were to recruit Black women to participate in an online research study about HIV prevention and pre-exposure prophylaxis, PrEP.
Materials and Methods
Questions about the ads were embedded in the eligibility screener for inclusion in the online parent research study. Respondents were asked which ad they saw, what they liked about it, and what about the ad piqued their interest in the study.
Results
In total, 301 Black women completed the eligibility screener for the online study and answered questions pertaining to the two ads. Most participants reported seeing the ad with younger women (260/301, 86.4%). Representation of Black women (n = 70), ad design (n = 64), relevance to Black women and the Black community (n = 60), and comprehensiveness of ad content (n = 38) were the top 4 ad features respondents liked. Relevance to Black women and the Black community (n = 104) as well as ad content (n = 54) (i.e., study purpose, location, duration, images, incentive) were the top two reasons provided about ads that piqued respondent’s interest in the online study.
Conclusion
Findings showcase how recruitment ads informed by Black women could help increase their interest and participation in research.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful for the contributions of the study participants.
Funding
This study was supported, in part, by the Surgeon General C. Everett Koop HIV/AIDS Research Grant from the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington.
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Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Amber Sophus. Data analyses were performed by Amber Sophus, and in part by Jason Mitchell and Kathryn Braun. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Amber Sophus, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The study was approved by the University of Hawaii – Manoa Institutional Review Board.
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Sophus, A.I., Mitchell, J.W., Sales, J.M. et al. “Our Community Comes First”: Investigating Recruitment Ads That Represent and Appeal to Black Women for Online, HIV-Related Research Studies. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01800-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01800-5