Introduction: African American/Black adults are severely underrepresented in basic, clinical, and behavioral research studies in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD). Innovative, evidence-based, and culturally salient strategies can maximize the recruitment of African American/Black adults into ADRD research.
Methods: We conducted and analyzed semi-structured interviews to capture the research participation stories of African American/Black participants and study partners from the University of Pittsburgh's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. The themes and messaging principles generated through this process informed the development of video- and text-based materials that were evaluated for community member acceptance using focus groups.
Results: Focus group individuals (N = 36) generally favorably rated the video and text materials, characterizing them as "interesting," "realistic," and "convincing."
Discussion: Capturing the narratives of African American/Black research participants is a critical component to developing culturally relevant materials for broader dissemination and is essential to advancing beyond information-only recruitment approaches, which tend to rely disproportionately on negative messages.
Keywords: African American; Alzheimer's disease; Black; disparities; narrative; recruitment; research; storytelling.
© 2020 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.