USING SOCIAL CONVOY THEORY TO IDENTIFY AND RECRUIT CAREGIVERS FOR HEALTH-RELATED AGING RESEARCH
2024

Using Social Convoy Theory to Recruit Caregivers for Aging Research

Sample size: 31 publication

Author Information

Author(s): Portz Jennifer, Silvasstar Josh, Coats Heather

Primary Institution: University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado, United States

Hypothesis

Social Convoy Theory can improve the recruitment of caregivers for health-related aging research.

Conclusion

The Social Convoy Strategy identifies more caregivers per older adult compared to the Helpers Strategy, despite a lower overall recruitment rate.

Supporting Evidence

  • Both recruitment strategies identified at least one caregiver among 77-78% of the older adults.
  • The Social Convoy Strategy yielded more caregivers per participant (1.72) compared to the Helpers Strategy (1.5).
  • The caregiver participation rate was 61.2%, with the Helpers Strategy showing a higher rate (66.7%) than the Social Convoy Strategy (58.1%).
  • The Social Convoy Strategy facilitated interviews with more caregivers across the network.

Takeaway

This study looked at two ways to find caregivers for older adults, and one way found more caregivers than the other.

Methodology

The study compared two recruitment methods: the Helpers Strategy and the Social Convoy Strategy, using phone, email, and text to contact caregivers.

Participant Demographics

Older adults enrolled in a qualitative study.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1093/geroni/igae098.2425

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