Recruiting Spousal Caregivers of People Living With Alzheimer’s or a Related Dementia for Caregiver Intervention Research: Lessons Learned From a Feasibility Study

Abstract

Improving caregivers’ quality of life begins with conducting research that aims to understand caregiver’s needs. However, caregivers may be reluctant to participate in research studies, adding to the importance of developing, tracking, and evaluating recruitment strategies. Here, we review the nationwide community outreach practices we implemented as our lab embarked on a program of research to develop an online intervention tailored for those caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s Disease or a Related Dementia (ADRD). We made hundreds of “cold” calls and e-mails to organizations across the US who may have access to caregivers, but whom we had no prior relationship with. It took 36.5 contact attempts to possible recruitment sites for every 1 enrolled caregiver. While time consuming, this low-cost recruitment method may offer a route for research teams to recruit caregivers into research studies without access to a medical center or collaborating physician(s).