In 2013, the Improve Group conducted focus groups as part of many projects. Two of these projects include: the Minnesota DHS Community Services Input project and the Region 4 Mental Health Services Needs Assessment. Both projects had the goal of gathering feedback about service needs and barriers to access. The focus groups targeted specific groups, including: individuals with physical and/or developmental disabilities, individuals with mental health needs, seniors, transition-age adults, and caregivers of individuals in the above groups. Focus groups with people from specific cultural groups that are especially impacted by service gaps were also conducted.
“Supply food and they will come.” – Every evaluator when it comes to focus group recruitment.
Many of these focus groups were held in rural communities around Minnesota and recruitment was conducted from a distance. Below are some do’s and don’ts we learned about focus group recruiting outside of our community.
Do: Outsource some recruitment if possible. Identify and get in contact with organizations and individuals that are based in the community and knowledgeable about the specific population you are trying to reach.
- Example: For a focus group with Somalis, we got to know a volunteer and trusted community member. She was immensely helpful, connecting us with a translator, identifying a convenient location, helping recruit participants, and suggesting culturally appropriate food.
- Example: For a Latino focus group, a staff member at a Latino community development nonprofit recruited people he worked closely with and drove them to the focus group location.
- Example: A Development Achievement Center (DAC) Director helped identify employees for the group and blocked off time during their normal day to participate on-site.
Don’t: Rely too heavily on one person or group to provide recruiting assistance. While it is useful to work through a client to recruit individuals, this strategy does not work for recruiting people who are not actively involved in a program or system. It is a good idea to create a network of resources to draw upon.
- Example: We asked a client to help us recruit for one of our projects investigating the mental health needs of specific cultural groups, but many groups were not accessing services from our client. Understanding why individuals don’t use services was a valuable component of our evaluation, but the individuals with this information were the most difficult to recruit! We needed to think more broadly about who could help us connect with our target population.
Do: Find out about and take advantage of opportunities to recruit in-person. In-person presentations or meetings are a great way to generate interest and make connections.
- Example: While this is a best practice, it is not always possible when recruiting from a distance. We used time we had in between focus groups to attend meetings and conferences. This proved to be an efficient way to distribute information, answer questions, and address concerns. One conference gave us time to make a brief pitch for our project, and we had a short time to have people answer our focus group questions right at the conference.
Don’t: Wait for participants to come to you. Go to where they are. This works especially well for rural communities and populations that have limited literacy, mobility, and access to community. Advocacy groups, initiatives, collaborative groups, or other gatherings of stakeholders present a great forum to reach both potential participants as well as those who could assist with recruitment.
Do: Treat recruitment like detective work! Target your outreach efforts by doing research online and through phone conversations. You may be surprised at how many organizations are available and interested in helping you include their stakeholders. While an initial conversation may work, you can follow-up on leads by sending in-depth emails describing the project and then calling to ask for assistance recruiting. The process of calling several organizations and people may be tedious, but it will pay off if you are able to identify someone who is willing to help recruit.
Do: Use best practices and principles for recruitment. These are all still relevant no matter where you are recruiting from!
- Offer and emphasize incentives for and benefits of participation: financial compensation, accommodations (i.e., child care, transportation reimbursement) and food. Emphasize the positive value to participation. Depending on the scope of the assistance you are requesting, consider providing a stipend or small gift to thank those who have helped with recruitment efforts.
- Using respectful language that is appropriate and written to communicate specifically with your target population.
- Remind people about the focus group via their preferred method of communication – whether that is a phone call, letter, email or text message.
In following these do’s and don’ts, the Improve Group has been able to dramatically increase the amount of participants in focus groups. Try some of these methods the next time you are conducting focus groups for a project. We welcome any other recruitment ideas.