Tripicchio Gina L, Grady Smith Jacqueline, Armstrong-Brown Janelle, McGuirt Jared, Haynes-Maslow Lindsey, Mardovich Sarah, Ammerman Alice S, Leone Lucia
Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, 2224 McGavran-Greenberg Campus, Box No. 7461, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7461. Email:
Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Prev Chronic Dis. 2017 Apr 27;14:E36. doi: 10.5888/pcd14.160475.
Food access interventions are promising strategies for improving dietary intake, which is associated with better health. However, studies examining the relationship between food access and intake are limited to observational designs, indicating a need for more rigorous approaches. The Veggie Van (VV) program was a cluster-randomized intervention designed to address the gap between food access and intake. In this article, we aim to describe the approaches involved in recruiting community partners to participate in VV.
The VV mobile market aimed to improve access to fresh fruits and vegetables by providing subsidized, high-quality, local produce in low-resource communities in North Carolina. This study describes the strategies and considerations involved in recruiting community partners and individual participants for participation in the VV program and evaluation.
To recruit partners, we used various strategies, including a site screener to identify potential partners, interest forms to gauge future VV use and prioritize enrollment of a high-need population, marketing materials to promote VV, site liaisons to coordinate community outreach, and a memorandum of understanding between all invested parties.
A total of 53 community organizations and 725 participants were approached for recruitment. Ultimately, 12 sites and 201 participants were enrolled. Enrollment took 38 months, but our approaches helped successfully recruit a low-income, low-access population. The process took longer than anticipated, and funding constraints prevented certain strategies from being implemented.
Recruiting community partners and members for participation in a multi-level, community-based intervention was challenging. Strategies and lessons learned can inform future studies.
食物获取干预措施是改善饮食摄入的有效策略，而饮食摄入与更健康的身体状况相关。然而，研究食物获取与摄入量之间关系的研究仅限于观察性设计，这表明需要更严谨的方法。蔬菜车（VV）项目是一项整群随机干预措施，旨在解决食物获取与摄入量之间的差距。在本文中，我们旨在描述招募社区合作伙伴参与VV项目所涉及的方法。
VV移动市场旨在通过在北卡罗来纳州的资源匮乏社区提供补贴的、高质量的本地农产品，改善新鲜水果和蔬菜的获取情况。本研究描述了招募社区合作伙伴和个体参与者参与VV项目及评估所涉及的策略和考虑因素。
为了招募合作伙伴，我们采用了多种策略，包括使用场地筛选器来识别潜在合作伙伴、兴趣表格来评估未来对VV的使用情况并优先招募高需求人群、营销材料来推广VV、场地联络人来协调社区推广活动，以及所有参与方之间的谅解备忘录。
总共接触了53个社区组织和725名参与者以进行招募。最终，有12个场地和201名参与者被纳入。招募工作耗时38个月，但我们的方法成功招募到了低收入、获取食物机会少的人群。这个过程比预期的要长，资金限制使得某些策略无法实施。
招募社区合作伙伴和成员参与多层次社区干预具有挑战性。所采用的策略和吸取的经验教训可为未来的研究提供参考。
