Recruitment Strategies

To successfully recruit women and ethnic minorities into cancer clinical trials, the research team needs to provide resources to these groups and also be culturally responsive.

Low-income persons are least likely to participate in research and most likely to drop out.  Providing resources to women and minority groups helps to reduce or eliminate the various barriers, and thus empower them to participate in research.  Such resources range from transportation, child care, health insurance, and monetary incentive to education and social integration and status.

Cultural responsiveness attempts to encourage women and minority communities to participate in research by achieving shared knowledge, attitudes and values, and collaborative practice of researchers and participants.  Matching research team members and potential participants in gender, ethnicity, and language should increase understanding and trust between the two groups and facilitate recruitment.