SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Project Summary In this Phase I SBIR projectImproving Mobile Access for Recruiting Study Volunteers from Underrepresented Populations for Alzheimerandapos s Disease Research and Other Studieswe will develop test and finalize a prototype mobile responsive website to enable broaderfasterand more cost efficient engagement of research study participants from underrepresented and minority populationsSpecificallywe will employ a range of research and testing to identify barriers and facilitators in the recruitment of healthy underrepresented populations for health registrieswith a particular focus on mobile devicesWe will use data from these assessments to buildtestand finalize a prototype mobile responsive recruitment website to measurably improve engagement and recruitment of healthy underrepresented and minority participants for Alzheimer s preventive researchRecruiting healthy participants for Alzheimer s studies can be a significant burden in time and costand create the risk of failure to achieve study goalsIt is well documented that underrepresented populationsincluding minoritiesare significantly underrepresented in health researchPrevention research proves an additional challengesuch studies require healthy participantswho can be even harder to engageThe inability to recruit such participants in sufficient numbers can delay studies and limit generalizability of findingsAfrican Americans and Hispanics are at increased risk for ADin part due to a higher prevalence of comorbid conditions that are AD risk factorsYet themember APRa site built by Provoc with Banner Alzheimer s InstituteBAIhasself reported minority enrollmentOther recruitment registries face similar imbalancesInitiatives such as the National Plan to Address AD call for greater attention to monitoring and identifying strategies to increase enrollment of racial and ethnic minorities in AD studiesTo increase minority participationwe must address barriers such as lack of access to technologycultural beliefslow literacythe legacy of systemic oppression and distrust and other barriers that prevent access and engagementIncreasinglymobile technology is seen as a key to reaching underrepresented populationsAfrican American and Hispanic populations are underrepresented in research studiesandon averageperform lower on literacy testsThey also rely heavily on mobile technologythe source of nearly half of APR s trafficSomeof the general US population can be defined as low literacyBy improving access for underrepresented populationswe also improve access for a significant portion of the general population of users and potentially all usersThis can increase the audience for the commercial product developed in Phase II of this project beyond just the underrepresented population targeted in Phase IThese factors define a critical need for accessibleusable mobile technology to support health study recruitment and engagement of underrepresented populationsas well as those in the general population who struggle with access to and comprehension of web based materialsWe hypothesize that addressing barriers and improving mobile usability will expand participation of healthy volunteers from underrepresented audiences in health studiesTo test this hypothesisprincipal investigators Raj Aggarwal of Provoc and DrJessica Langbaum of Banner Alzheimer s Institutewith experience in recruitmentretentioncommunity engagement and educationwith consulting support from DrUsha Menon of the University of South FloridaAaron Plant of Sentient Researchand Rob RussellPh D will develop a proof of concept mobile recruiting and engagement website targeted athealth study participants from a healthy underrepresented audienceThis will provide proof of concept for Phase II commercial products to aid in recruitment of underrepresented and general populationsSuch products might include optimization of UI and language on APR to improve recruitment for underrepresented populations and other participantsa web basedcheckerthat rates accessibility for online registriesand possibly any websitefor underrepresented populationsor a replicable online recruitment registryThis last product might take the form of a software as a service producta mobile appor a website templateany of which could be deployed and customized to a study s recruitment and engagement needsAnother possible product would be a registry that recruits and engages underrepresented populations from which research studies can recruitSpecific AimIdentify barriers and facilitators in the recruitment of healthy volunteers from underrepresented populations for health registrieswith a particular focus on mobile devicesSpecific AimBuildtestand finalize a prototype mobile responsive website to increase registration among healthy volunteers from underrepresented populations NarrativeWe will developtestand finalize a prototype mobile responsive website to enable broaderfasterand more cost efficient engagement of healthy research study participants from underrepresented and minority populationsOur work will address a key need and knowledge gap for recruitment for health studieswith particular relevance for Alzheimer s preventive researchSpecificallywe will employ a range of research and testing to identify barriers and facilitators in the recruitment of healthy underrepresented populations for health registrieswith a particular focus on mobile devicesWe will use data from these assessments to build test and finalize a prototype mobile responsive recruitment website to measurably improve engagement and recruitment of healthy underrepresented and minority participants for Alzheimer s preventive research
