In order to address the complex problems of health disparity, it is critical that public health research and intervention programs take place in communities that are underserved, and experience poor health outcomes. However, many of the adverse circumstances which affect access to care and compromise health outcomes provide operational and methodologic challenges to conducting research and intervention programs. Most challenging is to ensure participation and inclusion of those segments of the population that live in the most chaotic of circumstances - "the hard to reach". We conducted a study to measure the health status and well-being of women who were 6 weeks to 24 months postpartum. Women were randomly selected to participate in this cross-sectional study that was conducted in 4 health centers that serve poor and minority populations. We successfully included participants who were difficult to contact - lack of telephone, unstable housing, lack of transportation, domestic violence and other family stressors. We will identify barriers to participation in research and will discuss successful strategies for outreach and follow-up. We will present a tool which we employed to describe and quantify the degree of difficulty in accessing these individuals and present recommendations for researchers and practitioners who work in similar communities.
Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will learn successful methods of outreach to "hard to reach" urban populations 2. Participants will become familiar with a method for quantifying difficulty in reaching participants 3. Participants will identify barriers to participation in research and intervention programs common to urban populations
Keywords: Women's Health, Community Research
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: community health centers
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.