Effective recruitment and retention of older adults in physical activity research: PALS study.

Objectives: To develop strategies to recruit and retain inactive older adults into a physical activity program.

Methods: Names of 7378 older adults were obtained from 60 neighborhoods. Then, 6401 potential subjects were matched to telephone numbers and phoned.

Introductory postcards: do they increase response rate in a telephone survey of older persons?

The purpose of this study was to assess whether contact by mail via an introductory postcard would increase the response rate to a telephone survey in a selected population of 348 people 60 years and older. Of this group, 208 were sent a postcard introducing the study and informing them that someone would call in the next 1-2 weeks to conduct a telephone interview. The remaining sample of 140 did not receive the introductory postcard.

Community participation in road safety: barriers and enablers.

The objectives of the paper were to identify barriers to community participation in road safety activities and to recommend strategies to reduce those barriers. Information was obtained from: a review of relevant literature, from the authors' extensive community-based experiences, from undertaking community-based research, and from interviews with key stakeholders in road safety in Western Australia. Ten significant barriers to community participation were identified.

Measuring community/environmental interventions: the Child Pedestrian Injury Prevention Project.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of community/environmental interventions undertaken as part of the Child Pedestrian Injury Prevention Project (CPIPP).

Setting: Three communities (local government areas) in the Perth metropolitan area, Western Australia.

Methods: A quasiexperimental community intervention trial was undertaken over three years (1995-97).