Promoting heart health in rural women.

Purpose: To compare 2 strategies, stage-matched nursing and community intervention (SMN+CI) and community intervention (CI) alone in changing cardiovascular risk factors in up to 3 behavioral areas: diet, physical activity, and/or smoking among rural women.

Methods: A 14-month, multisite randomized controlled trial of 117 rural women was conducted. Transtheoretical model was used in identification of stage of change and development of the SMN+CI nursing interventions.

Race and ethnicity and rural mental health treatment.

Objective: Research has shown that there is less use of mental health services in rural areas even when availability, accessibility, demographic, and need factors are controlled. This study examined mental health treatment disparities by determining treatment rates across different racial/ethnic groups.

Methods: Data from the first four panels of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) were used for these analyses.

Relationships and communication in minority participation in research: multidimensional and multidirectional.

We examined the range and nature of investigators' communication and relationship building as they recruit minority participants in their research. Semistructured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 33 investigators conducting research with human participants. The response rate was 77%.

Participation in research studies: factors associated with failing to meet minority recruitment goals.

Purpose: To determine the recruitment goals that investigators set for racial/ethnic minorities and the factors associated with failure to meet those goals.

Methods: Four hundred forty principal investigators (PIs) conducting clinical research funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in 2001 completed a mailed survey providing their minority recruitment goals and enrollment data for their most recent NHLBI-funded study.

Results: Ninety-two percent of PIs set goals for African Americans, 68% for Hispanics, 55% for Asian Americans, 35% for Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders, and 23% of PIs set recruitment goals for American Indians/Native Alaskans.

Investigator beliefs and reported success in recruiting minority participants.

Purpose: Attaining adequate minority participation in clinical trials has been challenging and limited by the lack of data on the role that investigator perceptions play in minority recruitment. We sought to determine what investigator and study factors were associated with investigators' reported success in recruiting minority populations in research.

Methods: Principal investigators (PIs) who conducted clinical research funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in 2001 were surveyed about their success in recruiting minority populations, perceptions about the importance of minority recruitment, use of recruitment strategies, and barriers to minority recruitment.

Issues of race, ethnicity, and culture in caregiving research: a 20-year review (1980-2000).

Purpose: The goals of this review are to synthesize what is known about caregiving among diverse groups and to identify gaps in knowledge to guide future research on caregiving. The review focuses on conceptual and theoretical approaches, sampling strategies, measurement techniques, and similarities and differences found among groups and across studies.

Design And Methods: A narrative approach was used to review 59 articles published between 1980 and 2000, with particular attention to race, ethnicity, and/or culture.