Bridging the gap - Recruitment of African-American women into mental health research studies

Objective: To develop a strategy for recruiting African-American women into a research study for pregnant women. Methods: With few exceptions, NIH-funded investigators must include women and minorities in clinical research. The authors used the recommendations provided in the Outreach Notebook for the NIH Guidelines on Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research as a guide to help them reach out to African-American women in the community. Results and Conclusions: The out-reach experience led to a conference for African-American women about mental health. On the basis of this experience, the authors formulated a five-pronged approach for recruitment of African-American women into their study. The NIH guidelines were useful for this purpose. (Academic Psychiatry 2003; 27:21-28).