Lessons learned about minority recruitment and retention from the Centers on Minority Aging and Health Promotion

Purpose: This article presents a summary of an earlier monograph on the recruitment and retention of older ethnic minority individuals. Design and Methods: The authors provide an overview of recruitment and retention efforts made by six National Institutes of Health Office of Minority Research/National Institute on Aging-funded Centers on Minority Aging and Health Promotion. We rely on a model that focuses on barriers and enablers to recruitment that stem from the minority community as well as the research community. Results: The summary of findings suggests that recruitment and retention success occurs when there is a match between the goals of the ethnic minority communities and the research community. Implications: Recognizing and understanding the culture of each ethnic minority community as well the research perspectives is essential to successful recruitment and retention of ethnic minority elderly individuals.