Department of Public Health, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, AZ 1105 Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
BMC Public Health. 2013 Aug 19;13:768. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-768.
Ethnic minority women from low-income countries who live in high-income countries are more physically inactive than ethnic majority women in those countries. At the same time, they can be harder to reach with health promotion programs. Targeting recruitment channels and execution to ethnic groups could increase reach and receptivity to program participation. We explored using ethnically specific channels and key figures to reach Ghanaian, Antillean, and Surinamese mothers with an invitation for an exercise program, and subsequently, to determine the mothers' receptivity and participation.
We conducted a mixed methods process evaluation in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. To recruit mothers, we employed ethnically specific community organizations and ethnically matched key figures as recruiters over Dutch health educators. Reach and participation were measured using reply cards and the attendance records from the exercise programs. Observations were made of the recruitment process. We interviewed 14 key figures and 32 mothers to respond to the recruitment channel and recruiter used. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data.
Recruitment through ethnically specific community channels was successful among Ghanaian mothers, but less so among Antillean and Surinamese mothers. The more close-knit an ethnic community was, retaining their own culture and having poorer comprehension of the Dutch language, the more likely we were to reach mothers through ethnically specific organizations. Furthermore, we found that using ethnically matched recruiters resulted in higher receptivity to the program and, among the Ghanaian mothers in particular, in greater participation. This was because the ethnically matched recruiter was a familiar, trusted person, a translator, and a motivator who was enthusiastic, encouraging, and able to adapt her message (targeting/tailoring). Using a health expert was preferred in order to increase the credibility and professionalism of the recruitment.
Recruitment for an exercise program through ethnically specific organizations seems to contribute to its reach, particularly in close-knit, highly organized ethnic communities with limited fluency in the local language. Using ethnically matched recruiters as motivator, translator, and trusted person seems to enhance receptivity of a health promotion program. An expert is likely to be needed for effective information delivery.
生活在高收入国家的来自低收入国家的少数民族女性比这些国家的多数族裔女性身体活动水平更低。与此同时，针对这些群体开展健康促进项目的难度更大。针对特定族群的招募渠道和执行方式可以提高项目参与的覆盖面和接受度。我们探索了利用特定族裔的渠道和关键人物来邀请加纳、安的列斯和苏里南裔母亲参加锻炼计划，并随后确定母亲们的接受度和参与度。
我们在荷兰阿姆斯特丹进行了一项混合方法的过程评估。为了招募母亲，我们聘请了特定族裔的社区组织和族裔匹配的关键人物作为招募者，而不是荷兰健康教育家。通过回复卡和锻炼计划的出席记录来衡量参与度。我们观察了招募过程。我们采访了 14 位关键人物和 32 位母亲，以了解所使用的招募渠道和招募者。使用内容分析法对定性数据进行分析。
通过特定族裔的社区渠道进行招募在加纳裔母亲中取得了成功，但在安的列斯裔和苏里南裔母亲中效果较差。族裔社区越紧密，保留自己的文化，对荷兰语的理解越差，我们通过特定族裔组织找到母亲的可能性就越大。此外，我们发现使用族裔匹配的招募者会提高对项目的接受度，特别是在加纳裔母亲中，参与度更高。这是因为族裔匹配的招募者是一个熟悉、值得信赖的人，是一个翻译，也是一个激励者，她热情、鼓励，并能够调整她的信息（目标设定/量身定制）。使用健康专家是为了提高招募的可信度和专业性。
通过特定族裔的组织来招募参加锻炼计划的人似乎有助于扩大其覆盖面，特别是在语言能力有限、组织紧密的族裔社区中。使用族裔匹配的招募者作为激励者、翻译和可信赖的人，可以提高健康促进项目的接受度。有效的信息传递可能需要专家。
