doi:10.1093/geront/gnr026

Purpose: To conduct and evaluate a two-phased community-based approach to recruit lower socioeco-nomic status, minority, or Spanish-speaking adults at risk of developing diabetes to a randomized trial of a lifestyle intervention program delivered by a public health department. Design: Within geographic areas comprising our target population, 4 community organizations provided local space for conducting the study and program. Phase I—outreach in venues surrounding these organizations—included diabetes education, a short diabetes risk appraisal (DRA), and diabetes risk screening based on a fasting fingerstick glucose test. Phase II—trial recruitment—began con-currently for those found to be at risk of developing diabetes in Phase I by explaining the study, lifestyle program, and research process. Those interested and eligible enrolled in the 1-year study. Results: Over 2 years, approximately 5,110 individuals received diabetes education, 1,917 completed a DRA, and 1,164 were screened of which 641 (55%) had an elevated fingerstick result of ≥106 mg/dl. Of the study sampling frame—persons over age 25 at risk of developing diabetes (N = 544)—238 (43%) enrolled in the trial; of those who were study eligible (n = 427), 56 % enrolled. In the final sample, mean age was 56 years (SD = 17), 78 % were ethnic minorities, 32% were Spanish-speaking, and 15 % had a high school education or less. Implications: Providing dia-betes health education and screening prior to study recruitment may help overcome barriers to research participation in underserved communities, thus help-ing address difficulties recruiting minority and older populations into research, particularly research per-taining to chronic disease risk factors