Standardizing a process to engage African Americans in health research: the Community Research Outreach Workers' Network (CROWN)

Background : Recruiting African Americans into health research studies has proven to be challenging. Barriers to research study participation exist at the individual, research, and community levels. Additionally, a gap may exist where research opportunities do not reach potential participants in many African-American communities and/or research investigators may not have access to pathways that allow for them to connect with potential research participants. Objectives : Few studies have been published regarding an engagement strategy that utilizes volunteer research registries and community review boards to link registrants to health research. Therefore, the aims of this Community Research Outreach Workers’ Network (CROWN) pilot project were to (1) create a community outreach-generated registry of African Americans interested in participating in health research and (2) develop a community research review board that serves to advise research investigators on conducting culturally engaging research. Methods : The Uniformed Services University Center for Health Disparities (USUCHD) served as an administrative coordinating center that provided resources and support to a community research review board that determined if research investigators could recruit participants from the CROWN registry. Results : The CROWN board reviewed five research studies and provided feedback to research investigators. In turn, 71 people who were recruited into research studies reported that they heard about the study through CROWN. Conclusions : Outcomes from this pilot project suggest that the CROWN model is an effective strategy that can be used to engage African Americans in health research.