Recruiting Advisors

No matter the engagement strategies your organization selects, recruitment of patients, family members and/or community members will be an ongoing process. There is no single approach to recruitment; if you want to engage consumers that represent the full range of people your organization serves, you will need to employ a wide variety of recruitment approaches since people receive information in different ways. Recruitment approaches should also be tailored to the types of engagement approaches your organization has selected.

Key recruitment approaches for Communication and Consultation-based strategies

• Flyers. These can be hung in waiting rooms or mailed – email and/or postal mail – to a segment of patients (e.g., those who have received services from the organization in the previous three months, or those living in a certain service area). You can also send the flyer to community-based organizations that represent the types of consumers you are looking for (see below for examples).
• Newsletter. If your organization publishes a newsletter, use it to highlight the value and benefits of engagement, the many ways in which people can be engaged, and how to apply for engagement opportunities.
• Technology. Use your organization’s website as well as its social media accounts (e.g., Facebook, Twitter or Instagram) to highlight existing engagement opportunities, how these strategies make an impact within the organization, and how to learn more about engagement activities.

Key recruitment approaches for Collaboration and Co-ownership-based strategies

• Pro Tip: Role Descriptions, Applications and In-Person Meetings

  Especially for Collaboration and Co-ownership-based engagement strategies, you want to make sure you have advisors who are committed to the effort. Just as you would for a position within your organization, develop a job description that outlines responsibilities, “qualifications” and the expected time commitment. Have potential advisors complete a brief application and take the extra time to follow-up with a phone, video or in-person interview to begin building a relationship and to make sure the potential advisor understands the expectations of the role.

  Use your electronic health records system to identify potential advisors who fit your specific project’s needs. Contact them through the patient portal, email or mail them written information and/or ask your clinical staff to give it to them at an upcoming visit.
• Engage clinical, administrative and community outreach staff. Meet with clinical, administrative and community outreach (e.g., community health workers, doulas, health coaches) staff at the beginning of your recruitment to explain the purpose of engagement and any specific criteria you have for potential candidates. Give them written information they can share with consumers they consider good candidates. Make recruitment a regular agenda item at staff meetings.

• Pro Tip: Over-Recruit

  No matter which engagement strategies you select, it is typically the case that recruitment, especially for Collaboration and Co-ownership-based engagement strategies, is not a one-time event. Advisors may come and go for a variety of reasons, so it is important to use these approaches to conduct recruitment on an ongoing basis. Similarly, for Communication and Consultation-based approaches, always recruit more consumers than you want to show up. Consumers, just like everyone else, have last-minute “life complications” that may arise and prevent their participation. As a rule, you should plan to over-recruit by approximately 20 percent (e.g., if you want 15 participants in your focus group, recruit 18 to 20 people).

  Look outside the four walls of your organization. Conduct community-based outreach to organizations that are led by and represent the types of consumers you are looking for. These could include:
• Disease groups
• Support groups, including those online
• Congregations and other religious gatherings
• Social or cultural organizations
• Senior centers
• Area Agencies on Aging 
• Independent Living Centers
• Social service agencies
• Youth engagement organizations

Be especially mindful to reach out to organizations that are led by and serve people who directly bear the burdens of social factors such as poverty, racism and cultural insensitivity.

Review consumer complaints. Oftentimes, those consumers or family members who take the time to submit a complaint are the very people who would make good advisors. Work with the ombudsman or quality assurance staff to review complaints in order to identify candidates. Note: inviting these consumers also helps to convey your organization’s commitment to self-reflection and improvement.

Resources

1. Foundational Resources
   • Solving Disparities: Responding to Culture: Beyond Cultural Competence Training
2. Tips and Tools
   • IPFCC: Suggestions for Interview Questions in Selecting Patient and Family Advisors
   • IPFCC: Tips for Recruiting Patients and Families to Serve in Advisory Roles
   • IPFCC: Preparing and Supporting Patient and Family Advisors
   • IPFCC: Patient and Family Leaders in Paid Positions
   • AHRQ: Working With Patients and Families as Advisors
   • IPFCC: A Patient and Family Advisory Council Workplan