Table 3b.
Retention Strategy | Description | Start | End | Strengths | Weaknesses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mailed letters A |
Letters sent to caregivers notifying them of the fall data collection and the times staff would be in their community. Letters were sent to secondary contacts if first attempt unsuccessful. | Fall 2011 Spring 2012 Fall 2012 Fall 2013 Fall 2014 |
Winter 2012 July 2012 Winter 2013 Winter 2014 |
Letters with study logo went to specific participant. | Families moved/ changed address; didn’t assess if caregiver received/read letters |
Home Visits B |
Families were given the option of a home visit for final data-collection event. | Fall 2014 | Winter 2014 | Convenient for families; provided flexible after-school times for children and after-work times for caregivers. | Additional cost for travel. Difficult to find participant homes; non-productive use of staff time to find/travel to home; occasionally families not home when staff arrived. |
Phone calls B |
Phone numbers of participants and secondary contacts were collected at enrollment and confirmed/updated at each data collection event. Team members called families to communicate study-related events. | Fall 2011 Spring 2012 Fall 2012 Fall 2013 Fall 2014 |
Winter 2012 July 2012 Winter 2013 Winter 2014 |
Working telephone numbers provided a method of communication with participants. If participant was not home—family member passed on message. | Some phones out of service/disconnected, out of service-range; calls not always answered; some participants preferred to be texted |
Phone texting B |
Study staff would text messages regarding study-related activities | Fall 2012 Fall 2013 Fall 2014 |
Winter 2013 Winter 2014 |
Economical way for participants to receive study information; efficient use of cell-phone minutes | Difficult to track if messages received and/or ignored. |
Fliers C |
Head Start teachers sent home generic study fliers to children to give to caregivers with date/time of study recruitment/enrollment events. | Fall 2011 Spring 2012 Fall 2012 |
Winter 2012 July 2012 Winter 2013 Winter 2014 |
Fliers did not require a specific participant address. | Not sure if caregiver received/read flier. |
Events at Chapter Houses C |
Conducting enrollment/retention events at Chapter Houses. | Fall 2011 Spring 2012 Fall 2012 |
Winter 2012 July 2012 Winter 2013 Winter 2014 |
Use of Chapter Houses provided a community location with which participants were familiar; demonstrated community support of the project; some Chapter Houses waived the usual-use fee for the use of the space. | Little to no flexibility of the time and date of the event; time/date not always convenient for participants; required families to get own transportation to event; loss of productive staff time if no or few families showed; some Chapter Houses closed at 5:00; other community events occasionally superseded our events |
Booths at local fairs/community events C |
Staff would attend/rent booth at local community fairs/pow-wow | Fall 2011 Fall 2012 Fall 2013 Fall 2014 |
Winter 2012 July 2012 Winter 2013 Winter 2014 |
Took advantage of large community events that most members of community attended; used materials with logo to help community members identify project. | Many other activities happening at events at the same time. |
Newspaper ads C |
An insert was put into the local newspapers | Fall 2013 | n/a | Broad distribution to community members | Few participants saw fliers. |
Word of mouth C |
Head Start teachers contacted participants on occasion; participants occasionally notified others regarding study | Throughout project | Throughout project | Personal communication with community member | Difficult to track these activities. |
Fliers sent home by Elementary School Teachers D |
Elementary school teachers sent home generic fliers with kindergarten and first grade children | Fall 2014 | Winter 2014 | Reach out to children once graduated out of Head Start | Children graduated into > 100 different schools; difficult to assess if caregiver received flier. |