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Recruitment lessons learned from a tailored web-based health intervention Project Y.E.A.H. (Young Adults Eating and Active for Health)

Onikia Brown (Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Hospitality Management, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA)
Virginia Quick (Department of Health Sciences, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA)
Sarah Colby (Department of Nutrition, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA)
Geoffrey Greene (Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA)
Tanya M. Horacek (Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA)
Sharon Hoerr (Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA)
Mallory Koenings (New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA)
Tandalayo Kidd (Department of Human Nutrition, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA)
Jesse Morrell (Nutrition Program, Department of Molecular, Cellular, & Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA)
Melissa Olfert (Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources & Design, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA)
Beatrice Phillips (Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL, USA)
Karla Shelnutt (Department of Family, Youth & Community Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA)
Adrienne White (Food Science and Human Nutrition, The University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA)
Kendra Kattelmann (Health and Nutritional Sciences Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA)

Health Education

ISSN: 0965-4283

Article publication date: 3 August 2015

651

Abstract

Purpose

Recruiting college students for research studies can be challenging. The purpose of this paper is to describe the lessons learned in the various recruitment strategies used for enrolling college students in a theory-based, tailored, and web-delivered health intervention at 13 US universities.

Design/methodology/approach

The community-based participatory research (CBPR) model was used to develop a staged-tailored, web-based, randomized control trial, focussing on eating behavior, physical activity, and stress management. Participant feedback during baseline assessments was used to evaluate recruitment strategies.

Findings

Findings from this feedback suggest that traditional recruitment strategies, such as newspaper ads and flyers, may not be the best approach for recruiting college students; instead, web-based efforts proved to be a better recruitment strategy.

Research limitations/implications

This project included results from 13 US universities and thus may not be generalizable: more research is needed to determine successful recruitment methods for 18-24 years old college students.

Originality/value

This paper lessens the gap regarding successful recruitment strategies for 18-24 years old college students.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

At the time this research was conducted, Dr Brown was at the Purdue University, Dr Quick was a Doctoral Candidate at the Rutgers University, Dr Colby was at the East Carolina University, Dr Koenings was a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and Dr Morrell was a Doctoral Candidate at the University of New Hampshire.

Citation

Brown, O., Quick, V., Colby, S., Greene, G., Horacek, T.M., Hoerr, S., Koenings, M., Kidd, T., Morrell, J., Olfert, M., Phillips, B., Shelnutt, K., White, A. and Kattelmann, K. (2015), "Recruitment lessons learned from a tailored web-based health intervention Project Y.E.A.H. (Young Adults Eating and Active for Health)", Health Education, Vol. 115 No. 5, pp. 470-479. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-06-2014-0075

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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