Ellwood, A, Airlie, J, Cicero, R et al. (9 more authors) (2018) Recruiting Care Homes to a Randomised Controlled Trial. Trials, 19 (535). ISSN 1745-6215
Abstract
Background
There are over a quarter of a million individuals aged ≥65 years resident in care homes in England and Wales. Care home residents have high levels of cognitive impairment, physical disability, multimorbidity and polypharmacy. Research is needed to ensure there are robust, evidence-based interventions to improve the quality of life of this frail group. However, there is a paucity of research studies in this area. Recruiting care homes and their residents to research is challenging.
A feasibility, cluster randomised controlled trial was undertaken as part of a research programme to identify ways to develop and test methods to enhance the physical activity of care home residents. This paper describes two methods of recruiting care homes to the trial and draws out learning to inform future studies.
Methods
Eligible care homes: were within a defined geographical area in the north of England; provided residential care for adults ≥65 years of age; had not previously been involved in the research programme; were not taking part in a conflicting study; were not recorded on the Care Quality Commission website as ‘inadequate’ or ‘requiring improvements’ in any area; had ≥10 beds. Care homes were identified by: a ‘systematic approach’ using the Care Quality Commission website database of care homes; a ‘targeted approach’ via a network of research-ready care homes. A standardised method was used to recruit care homes including: eligibility screening; invitation letters; telephone contact; visits; formal letter of agreement.
Results
In the systematic approach, 377 care homes were screened, 230 (61%) were initially eligible and invited to participate, 11 were recruited (recruitment rate (RR) 4.8%). In the targeted approach, 15 care homes were invited to participate, two were recruited (RR 13.3%). Overall, 245 care homes were approached and 13 recruited (RR 5.3%). A variety of care homes were recruited to the trial in terms of size, location, ownership and care provision.
Conclusions
Systematic recruitment of care homes to the study was time-consuming and resource-heavy but led to a variety of care homes being recruited. The targeted approach led to a higher recruitment rate.
Trial registration
ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN16076575. Registered 25 June 2015, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN16076575
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s). 2018 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the |
Keywords: | Homes for the Aged; Aged; Aged 80 and Over; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Research Subjects; Vulnerable Populations; United Kingdom; Recruitment; Care Homes |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (Leeds) > Academic Unit of Elderly Care and Rehabilitation (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NIHR National Inst Health Research RP-PG-1210-12017 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Oct 2018 11:38 |
Last Modified: | 10 Oct 2018 13:40 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | BioMed Central |
Identification Number: | 10.1186/s13063-018-2915-x |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:136623 |