Issues and recommendations for the recruitment and retention of older ethnic minority adults into clinical research

A burgeoning literature indicates that treatment of mental disorders offsets mortality, morbidity, and poor quality of life in senior citizens. Unfortunately, ethnic minority senior citizens, who are in most need of mental health services, have not been well represented in psychosocial research. This lack of attention is due, in large part, to difficulties that may arise in recruitment and retention of older ethnic minority adults in research studies. The purpose of this article is to discuss successful methods for recruiting older ethnic minority adults into psychosocial research and to offer specific suggestions for keeping this population involved in longitudinal studies. Also included is a discussion of past research and present data from treatment studies that used the methods discussed in this article.