THURS-043 - Building Trust and Leveraging Community Assets: Strengthening Community-based Recruitment for Remote Cognitive Research

Brief Abstract Summary: Gain insights into the lessons learned from employing community-engaged approaches in California’s San Joaquin Valley focused on older adults for a digital meditation research study. Poster presentation attendees will recognize the importance of community outreach, collaborations with local organizations, and long-term relationship building to promote inclusive recruitment in cognitive health research.

Detailed abstract description: It is estimated that maintaining or improving cognition in older adults (OA) could potentially prevent or delay the onset of 10 million new cases of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. MediTrain is a novel closed-loop, digital meditation intervention that was designed to improve regulation of focused attention in healthy OA. In a mechanistic RCT, MediTrain led to improvements in cognitive control, reduced stress reactivity, and improvements in cellular markers of aging, with the greatest gains seen in a subgroup of OA with cognitive deficits (i.e., mild cognitive impairment-like) (Ziegler et al., in prep).

A goal of this project is to extend the scope of our intervention by conducting a mobile RCT in a large, nationwide sample of OA. Along with other recruitment methods, this study will focus on enhancing the representation of OA from California’s San Joaquin Valley (SJV)—a predominantly rural, underserved area with historically high rates of health disparities and underrepresentation in clinical trials. Using a community-engaged approach, we are connecting with families and OA through outreach at various community events, collaborations with community-based organizations, and the formation of a community advisory board.

Participant enrollment is still in progress. Initial efforts show promising engagement with local community partners. We have tabled at various community events, including farmers markets, street fairs, Parkinson’s support group meetings, senior recognition events, faith group events, and health and community resource fairs to promote our digital meditation intervention. Collaborations with local partners have increased outreach efforts and awareness of clinical research and our center’s presence in the region. Feedback from community members indicates strong support for culturally tailored recruitment materials. Additional observations highlight the importance of trust-building and long-term relationship development, which are expected to contribute to higher enrollment rates as the intervention progresses.

Recruiting participants from underserved and marginalized communities is imperative for ensuring equity in health research. However, this process often presents significant challenges. Despite extensive outreach and the willingness of local organizations to promote the study, actual enrollment from this region has been slower than anticipated. This experience sheds light on the complexities of clinical trial recruitment and enrollment within communities that have historically been underserved or marginalized. It emphasizes that trust-building is not an overnight process and requires ongoing commitment and patience. With time, these community-engaged approaches offer a promising pathway to increasing diversity in and accessibility of digital interventions that have the potential to modify dementia risk in communities that don’t often have access to dementia prevention medicine.