A practice-based research (PBR) program was developed in 1996 to promote a partnership between practitioners and researchers in order to gather relevant data on "real-life" chiropractic practice. The purpose of the present study is to identify factors that contributed to the recruitment and retention of participating chiropractors in three projects conducted over a three-year period. Participants were recruited through four methods: 1) Letters of invitation to those who participated in pilot, 2) personal communications by the program staff, 3) announcements in chiropractic publications or websites, and 4) requests to professional organization leaders to encourage their members to participate. Retention methods included mailing summary reports following each project, certificates of appreciation to chiropractors and staff, chiropractors' names being included in the acknowledgements of the published articles, and continued personal contact with the Program Coordinator. Of the 236 practices that participated in at least one of the three projects, 49 practices participated in the pilot, 77 were recruited from professional leaders, 94 from chiropractic publications and websites, and 16 from personal communication from project staff. Of the 121 chiropractors who participated in project 1, 65 participated in either/both Project 2 or 3. Of the 159 chiropractors who participated in Project 2, 87 continued their involvement into Project 3. Based on an overview of recruitment data and recent focus group feedback, factors that impact participation in PBR are: support from professional leaders, project content, experience with research, practice stability, amount of disruption to practice due to project demands, follow-up reports and resulting publications.
Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives: 1. Define Practice-Based Research (PBR) 2. Describe how to recruit practitioners into PBR 3. Identify the factors that contribute to retaining practitioners in PBR
Keywords: Chiropractic, Practice-Based Research
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.