The Neighborhood Voice: Evaluating a Mobile Research Vehicle for Recruiting African Americans to Participate in Cancer Control Studies

The Neighborhood Voice is a vehicle customized for conducting health research in community settings. It brings research studies into neighborhoods affected most by health disparities and reaches groups often underrepresented in research samples. This paper reports on the experience and satisfaction of 599 African American women who participated in research on board the Neighborhood Voice. Using bivariate, psychometric, and logistic regression analyses, we examined responses to a brief post-research survey. Most women (71%) reported that they had never previously participated in research, and two-thirds (68%) rated their Neighborhood Voice experience as excellent. Satisfaction scores were highest among first-time research participants (p < .05). Women's ratings of the Neighborhood Voice on Comfort (OR = 4.9; 95% CI - 3.0, 7.9) and Convenience (OR - 1.8; 95% CI - 1.2, 2.9) significantly predicted having an excellent experience. Mobile research facilities may increase participation among disadvantaged and minority populations. Our brief survey instrument is a model for evaluating such outreach.