Journal Article

Starting the SToP trial: Lessons from a collaborative recruitment approach

Carapetis, Jonathan, Walker, Roz, Bowen, Asha C., Christophers, Ray, McRae, Tracy, Jacky, John, Katzenellenbogen, Judith M., Coffin, Juli

2022

Overview

Recruitment in research can be challenging in Australian Aboriginal contexts. We aimed to evaluate the SToP (See, Treat, Prevent skin infections) trial recruitment approach for Aboriginal families to identify barriers and facilitators and understand the utility of the visual resource used. This qualitative participatory action research used purposive sampling to conduct six semi-structured interviews with staff and five yarning sessions with Aboriginal community members from the nine communities involved in the SToP trial that were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim before thematic analysis. Community members valued the employment of local Aboriginal facilitators who used the flipchart to clearly explain the importance of healthy skin and the rationale for the SToP trial while conducting recruitment. A prolonged process, under-developed administrative systems and stigma of the research topic emerged as barriers. Partnering with a local Aboriginal organisation, employing Aboriginal researchers, and utilising flip charts for recruitment was seen by some as successful. Strengthening governance with more planning and support for recordkeeping emerged as future success factors. Our findings validate the importance of partnership for this critical phase of a research project. Recruitment strategies should be co-designed with Aboriginal research partners. Further, recruitment rates for the SToP trial provide a firm foundation for building partnerships between organisations and ensuring Aboriginal perspectives determine recruitment methods.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Australia - ethnology / Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples - ethnology / Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples - psychology / Biology and Life Sciences / Clinical Studies as Topic / Clinical trials / Collaboration / Colonialism / Community / Community involvement / Computer and Information Sciences / Constructivism / Ecology and Environmental Sciences / Environmental health / Humans / Infections / Interviews / Medicine and Health Sciences / Native peoples / Parasitic diseases / Partnerships / Patient Selection / Public health / Qualitative Research / Records management / Recruitment / Research and Analysis Methods / Research methodology / Research Personnel / Research projects / Skin / Skin Diseases, Infectious - diagnosis / Skin Diseases, Infectious - psychology / Skin Diseases, Infectious - therapy / Social Sciences / Social Stigma / Underserved populations