Recruitment Barriers and Successes of the American Lung Association's Not-On-Tobacco Program

• Published in: The Journal of school health 2003-02, Vol.73 (2), p.58-63
• Main Authors: Massey, Catherine J., Dino, Geri A., Horn, Kimberly A., Lacey-McCracken, Angela, Goldcamp, Jennifer, Kalsekar, Iftekhar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Adolescents; Focus Groups; Humans; Nursing; Patient Selection; Program Evaluation; Recruitment; Research Subjects; School Administration; Smoking; Smoking and youth; Smoking Cessation; Smoking cessation programs; Students - psychology; Survey response rates; United States; Voluntary Health Agencies - organization & administration; Youth smoking
• ISSN: 0022-4391; 1746-1561
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2003.tb03573.x

This paper explores recruitment barriers and successes with research involving Not‐On‐Tobacco, the American Lung Association's (ALA) teen smoking cessation program. Forty‐six program facilitators across four NO‐T studies completed a questionnaire to assess recruitment methods used, effectiveness of chosen methods, and recruitment barriers. Facilitators reported the most effective recruitment methods were “one‐on‐one conversation with students” (53.3%) and interpersonal contact where students received lollipops and information about N‐O‐T (33.3%; “lick‐the‐habit table”). The most frequently reported barriers to recruitment were “students not interested” (60.9%) and “active parental consent” (28.3%). The greatest barrier to obtaining active parental consent, as reported by facilitators, was “students did not want to tell parents they smoked” (78.3%). Findings suggest that recruitment presented a challenge to N‐O‐T research partners, including investigators, ALA staff, and program facilitators. However, recruitment was effective when active recruitment techniques such as maximized interpersonal contact involving one‐on‐one conversation were used.