starting-the-stop-a-collaborative-recruitment-approach

Starting the SToP: A collaborative recruitment approach.


The burden of skin infections in Aboriginal children living in remote communities is high. Recruiting and retaining participants into clinical trials and research more broadly can be challenging, particularly for Australian Aboriginal and culturally diverse populations. Addressing these challenges requires: involving local communities, organisations and stakeholders in all stages of research; employing Aboriginal research staff; co-designing culturally sensitive and literacy appropriate information tools for participants; and undertaking ongoing process evaluations. Using a Community Participatory Action Research (CPAR) approach, the “See” “Treat” and “Prevent”, SToP trial is working in partnerships with stakeholders and communities to reduce the burden of skin infections in remote Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley. The culturally appropriate recruitment process is an element of the SToP trial characterised by an inclusive approach and forms the basis of this project.

The aim of this project is to undertake a process evaluation of the collaborative recruitment approach used in the SToP trial. This will help contextualise and interpret the overall evaluation findings of the SToP trial and provide strategies to help inform best practice in future research engaging Aboriginal people in remote communities and clinical trial context. To help achieve this aim, this project focuses on two objectives:

  1. To understand what barriers and facilitators impacted recruitment from the perspectives of the staff.
  2. To determine how effective the flipchart was for improving knowledge about skin infections and influencing participation into the SToP trial from the perspectives of the community members.
  • Tracy McRae

  • Jonathan Carapetis

  • Telethon Kids Institute

  • 2019-2020

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