Engaging Spanish-Speaking Families From Low-Income Households With Children With Language Delays: Recruitment Strategies and Costs.

OBJECTIVE

This study describes recruitment approaches and costs of engaging Spanish-speaking and Latino families and their young children with language delays in a randomized clinical trial of a naturalistic language intervention approach.

METHOD: A total of 214 families were initially screened, and ultimately, 81 families were determined to be eligible and were enrolled in a randomized clinical trial. Families found out about the study via passive recruitment strategies (social media or word of mouth) and active recruitment strategies (referral by experts in early bilingual language development or referral by nonexperts in early bilingual language development). Differences in eligibility based on recruitment strategy type were examined, and a participant acquisition cost for each recruitment source was estimated.

RESULTS

There were significant differences in eligibility based on how families were referred. Families who were referred to the study by experts were significantly more likely to qualify and enroll. Referrals from an early intervention provider were the most cost-effective way to recruit families.

CONCLUSION

Active recruitment strategies were essential to recruiting Spanish-speaking and Latino families into a randomized clinical trial. Studies that use primarily or exclusively passive recruitment approaches may result in biased samples. Establishing relationships with community experts may be especially important for research targeting children with disabilities.