Recruitment Innovations to Enhance Diversity in AD Research

摘要 尽管经历与阿尔茨海默氏症相关的健康问题的比例不成比例，非裔美国人 在阿尔茨海默病和相关疾病(ADRD)研究中一直严重偏低 项目。在这一研究领域招收不足的非裔美国人是全国公认的 有问题。这不仅是因为需要无偏见的、具有代表性的基本样本，这一点非常令人担忧 科学和临床研究，还因为让代表不足的少数群体的人参与进来是 这对于增进我们对健康差距的理解并最终与之作斗争至关重要。作为对PAR-15的回应- 349“健康差距和阿尔茨海默氏症”，我们建议开发和评估一种新的战略， 利用讲故事的活动来促进非裔美国成年人进入该大学的研究 匹兹堡阿尔茨海默病研究中心的。在具体目标1中，我们将在我们前景看好的试点工作的基础上再接再厉 提炼和评估社区成员对讲故事策略的接受程度 非裔美国人中老年阿尔茨海默病相关研究参与体验。这个 讲故事策略将突出非裔美国人的研究参与叙事，源于一系列 使用短视频进行人种学采访和讲述。在具体目标2中，我们将评估这一点的效果 关于招募非裔美国人参与ADRD研究的讲故事策略。在AIM 1中开发的视频将 纳入所有现有的红十字国际委员会招募工作，从社区活动到社交媒体 战略。AIM 2的主要结果将是非洲裔美国人被招募到ADRC的比例 18个月期间的临床核心，以之前的18个月期间为对照。特定的 目标3将使用路径分析模型来探索讲故事策略增加的机制 非洲裔美国人参加ADRD研究的总体情况，以及旨在解决 健康差距。实现这项研究的目标将增加ADRD研究中的种族和民族多样性 一个由NIA资助的领先的ADRC，并最终帮助减少非洲人之间的认知健康差距 美国人。这项研究的结果将直接为增加多样性的最佳实践提供信息 国家AD中心网络，对一系列代表性不足的人群具有重大影响。 此外，这些发现也将应用于其他疾病背景下，其中科学进步 由于从代表性不足的种族和少数族裔群体中招募的人员不足，这一点受到限制。

ABSTRACT Despite experiencing Alzheimer’s-related health problems at a disproportionate rate, African Americans are consistently and severely underrepresented in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders (ADRD) research projects. Insufficient enrollment of African Americans in this line of research is a nationally-recognized problem. This is highly concerning not only because of the need for unbiased, representative samples in basic science and clinical research, but also because involving persons from underrepresented minority groups is crucial to advancing our understanding of, and ultimately combating, health disparities. In response to PAR-15- 349 “Health Disparities and Alzheimer’s Disease”, we propose to develop and evaluate a novel strategy that uses a storytelling campaign to enhance recruitment of African American adults into research at the University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer Disease Research Center. In Specific Aim 1, we will build on our promising pilot work to refine and evaluate community members’ acceptance of a storytelling strategy for communicating Alzheimer’s-related research participation experiences of African Americans in mid and late life. The storytelling strategy will highlight African Americans’ research participation narratives, as derived from a series of ethnographic interviews and told using short videos. In Specific Aim 2, we will evaluate the effect of this storytelling strategy on recruitment of African Americans into ADRD research. Videos developed in Aim 1 will be incorporated into all existing ADRC recruitment efforts, ranging from community events to social media strategies. The primary outcome for Aim 2 will be the proportion of African Americans recruited to the ADRC Clinical Core over an 18 month period, with the preceding 18 month period serving as the comparator. Specific Aim 3 will use path analysis modeling to explore the mechanisms by which a storytelling strategy increases enrollment of African Americans into ADRD research in general, and into a specific study designed to address health disparities. Realizing the goals of this study will increase racial and ethnic diversity in ADRD research at a leading NIA-funded ADRC and ultimately, help to reduce cognitive health disparities amongst African Americans. Findings from this study will directly inform best practices for increasing diversity within the national AD Centers network, with significant implications for a range of underrepresented populations. Furthermore, these findings will also have applications in other disease contexts in which scientific progress is constrained by insufficient recruitment of persons from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups.