Recruitment and Participant Engagement Support
Receive recruitment and retention planning support, at no cost to your study team.
Common topics discussed during consultations
Common topics discussed during consultations
Consultations are tailored to your recruitment and retention needs and goals. Examples include:
- Recruitment feasibility and planning.
- Potential barriers to recruitment and retention.
- Inclusive and representative enrollment.
- Participant engagement in clinics, such as the Clinics and Surgery Center (CSC).
- Review of recruitment related sections of a grant application.
- Best practices and resources for a study and/or department.
- Specific recruitment methods or tools you want to learn about.
- Participant appreciation and dissemination planning.
Brochures
Patient letters
Patient letters
Study information sheets
Participant appreciation cards
Resources for images
U of MN resources
- University Library (UMN login required)
- StoryBlocks (UMN login required)
General stock content
- Unsplash
- The Noun Project
- Pixabay
- Pexels
- Reshot (free vectors and illustrations)
- Adobe Stock (paid)
- iStock (paid)
Medical and health-related images
Inclusive image sources
Note to researchers: Our guidance and templates are designed to adhere to UMN IRB guidelines; however, this does not guarantee IRB approval. We encourage you to have our staff review your materials prior to IRB submission.
Tools for connecting with participants
StudyFinder uses data from OnCore, ETHOS, and ClinicalTrials.gov to generate a unique URL and dedicated landing page for your study.
StudyFinder lists University of Minnesota studies that are:
- Registered in OnCore
- IRB approved
- Open to accrual
How we can help
- StudyFinder guidelines and data sources.
- Create a brief, plain-language description for your study.
- Optimize the visibility of your study listing.
- General support and troubleshooting.
Guides and resources
ResearchMatch is a nationwide registry that allows people across the country to express interest in being contacted about participating in research studies.
About ResearchMatch
- Allows researchers to contact volunteers based on selected geographic, demographic, and medical factors, while protecting the privacy of the volunteers.
- Available to University of Minnesota researchers at no cost.
- Use of ResearchMatch as a recruitment tool must be approved by the UMN IRB.
- We—CTSI’s Recruitment Center—are your ResearchMatch contact at UMN.
How we can help
- Support during the process of obtaining IRB approval to use ResearchMatch.
- Create contact messages to be sent via ResearchMatch (must be IRB-approved).
- Receive guidance registering your study on ResearchMatch.
Guides and resources
i2b2 is a self-service cohort discovery tool that can be used for simple feasibility queries. We use this tool to determine the availability of your target patient population within the M Health Fairview system.
How we can help
- Assess inclusion/exclusion criteria and how it may impact or limit participation.
- Assist study teams with basic cohort identification using i2b2.
- Provide recommendations for recruitment strategies based on query results.
- Connect you with CTSI’s Best Practices Integrated Informatics Core (BPIC) and Fairview Research Recruitment Services (FRRS) for feasibility assessment and recruitment mailings.
Have cohort criteria that’s too complex for i2b2?
Recruitment Innovation Center
We participate in the Recruitment Innovation Center—a network of recruitment specialists across the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) consortium—to improve the quality of research and increase enrollment.
Contact
Melissa Hansen
Research Navigator
[email protected]
612-625-CTSI (2874)