Why is it Difficult to Recruit/Retain Asian American Family Caregivers in a Virtual Intervention?

Background: Virtual interventions using computers and mobile devices have increasingly been developed and tested among racial and ethnic minorities in recent years. Yet, few virtual interventions have been developed for Asian American midlife women who are family caregivers of persons living with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Furthermore, little is known about the feasibility of recruiting this specific group of racial/ethnic minority midlife women to a virtual intervention study.

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to discuss practical issues in recruiting and retaining this specific group of racial/ethnic minority midlife women for a virtual intervention study.

Methods: The ongoing parent study is to develop and test a preliminary version of a virtual intervention for this specific population. During the research process, the research team had regular meetings to have discussions on recruitment and retention issues and each team member wrote research diaries. A content analysis was conducted with the written records including the research team's research diaries and meeting minutes.

Results: The issues were: (1) an extremely small pool of Asian American midlife women who were family caregivers of persons living with AD; (2) competitions with other studies, (3) practicality of inclusion/exclusion criteria, (4) lack of time and interests in research participation, and (5) negative perception of small monetary incentives.

Conclusion: Future researchers need to consider the unique cultural and social dynamics of this specific population, foster trusted connections with the communities before initiating the study, and obtain feedback from potential gatekeepers and the communities in advance.