Fostering parent participation in a longitudinal study, the Miami Legacy for Children experience

Subject retention is a major challenge in longitudinal studies, but especially more so when dealing with hard to reach populations. Miami Legacy staff will explore the many strategies and intense efforts used to engage and retain low-income participants in the 5 year longitudinal study, Legacy for Children. Continuity of contact activities discussed will include: weekly phone calls, birthday cards for participants and children and holiday gifts for both, childcare services during parenting groups for the target intervention child, attendance incentives, door-to-door transportation to and from meetings and graduations, meals at meetings, assessment incentives and supplemental home visits to sustain contact, when necessary. The conceptual framework of “Building a Sense of Community,” as part of the curriculum, will be detailed, as well as the mechanisms employed to support staff in sustaining non-judgmental acceptance of all participants. Retention strategies have resulted in over 50% of the original group of 180 intervention participants still attending weekly meetings at the end of Year 3. Staff to support these activities included a tracker, Group Leaders, and drivers familiar with and who come from the participant communities, and help sustain rapport with participants to encourage participation over time. This has allowed the participants to become very familiar with the personnel, and has created a comfort level to share information and entrust their children to project activities over time. Lessons learned from this study may lead to improved subject retention rates in at risk populations.