Abstract A18: Effective strategies to recruit Hispanics into a biobanking study in Puerto Rico and Florida
Authors: López Jomar , Cortes Cynthia , McIntyre Jessica , Castro Eida , Gwede Clement , Vadaparampil Susan , Simmons Vani , Brandon Thomas , Quinn Gwendolyn , Jiménez Julio 
Published: March 2017

Introduction: Biobanks are repositories that store biospecimens and health information for research. Healthy control samples from diverse racial/ethnic groups must be represented in biobanks to better examine genetic and environmental risk factors for diseases such as cancer. However, the general public appears to be skeptical about the purpose of these repositories, with minority populations being less likely to donate samples. The Ponce School of Medicine-Moffitt Cancer Center Partnership conducted a study to examine communication channels for delivering biobanking education to healthy Hispanics. The purpose of this article is to describe the successful strategies used during the recruitment process.

Methods: The Outreach Core recruited community members (n=254) in Ponce, Puerto Rico and Tampa, Florida using a variety of in-person and media-based approaches. In-person strategies involved staffing booths at community events targeted to Hispanics such as health fairs, American Cancer Society Relay for Life, and educational charlas. Media-based strategies included: the dissemination of flyers at trusted sites in the community (e.g., churches, markets and other community gathering places) and advertising through Spanish language media channels (e.g.,radio talk shows, television programs, newspapers and the project website). Electronic flyers were also shared through Facebook and sent to community partners.

Results: At Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU), word-of-mouth (WOM) was the most effective recruitment strategy, whereby 85 (64.4%) participants enrolled. The second most effective recruitment strategy was the dissemination of flyers, as twenty-five (18.9%) participants enrolled. At Moffitt Cancer Center, the most successful strategy reported was WOM (57.6%). Participation at Moffitt events was reported as the second most effective strategy, with 28 (22.4%) participants enrolled. Overall, the most effective recruitment strategy at both sites was WOM, with 157 (61.1%) participants enrolled.

Conclusion: Mistrust is a barrier for research participation amongst Hispanics. Of the recruitment strategies mentioned, WOM and attending community events may be the most effective method to increase trust within Hispanic communities. Overall, this study shows that building trust in the minority community may be the most important first step towards effective recruitment.

Citation Format: Jomar López, Cynthia Cortes, Jessica McIntyre, Eida Castro, Clement Gwede, Susan Vadaparampil, Vani Simmons, Thomas Brandon, Gwendolyn Quinn, Julio Jiménez. Effective strategies to recruit Hispanics into a biobanking study in Puerto Rico and Florida. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A18.