Clinical – Recruit

Recruit

Recruiting Volunteer Health Mentors to lead the Check. Change. Control. Connecting Communities and Care program, patient participants and community partners is typically the most time consuming task. Set aside at least two months for recruitment efforts.

Recruit Volunteer Health Mentors

Volunteer Health Mentors play an important role in recruiting and enrolling patients, and holding them accountable throughout the program. Their primary responsibility is to communicate with patients at least twice a month for a minimum of four consecutive months.

Volunteer Health Mentors can be anyone at your clilnic who is passionate about patient health and the Check. Change. Control. Connecting Communities and Care project. Mentors should have strong communication skills and the dedication and time to devote to the program in addition to their other duties.

Meet one-on-one with individuals who may have interest in the role. Explain the purpose of the program and the impact mentors have, and ask them to help lead the program.

Recruiting Community Partners

Community partners can include organizations and companies in the healthcare industry such as pharmacies, local health departments or fitness centers, as well as those partners outside of traditional healthcare settings that have an interest in the well-being of the community, such as faith-based organizations, grocery stores or school districts.

Your community partners will help encourage your patients to check their blood pressure and make lifestyle changes outside of the clinical setting. They may foster this connection by administering blood pressure checks at their locations, hosting health fairs, and more.

Recruiting Participants

Any patient can participate in Check. Change. Control. Connecting Communities and Care, including those who are pre-hypertensive (120-139/80-89 mm Hg), hypertensive (140/90 mm Hg or higher), and those who have normal blood pressure (less than 120/80 mm Hg). A population health tool, such as The Guideline Advantage, can help identify patients who may benefit from the program. If you use Heart360 to help track their blood pressure, all patients should have an email address, access to a computer and telephone, and be comfortable using the Internet.

With the help of a Volunteer Health Mentor, patients are responsible for taking their blood pressure at least eight times over the course of four consecutive months, entering their blood pressure in a reporting tool, such as Heart360, and meeting with their Volunteer Health Mentor at least twice a month.

Suggestions for recruiting participants include:

  • Send an email to patients to encourage them to participate. The Volunteer Health Mentor(s) could meet one-on-one with interested participants.
  • Host an event, such as a health fair or kick-off rally to encourage patients to enroll.
  • Raise awareness for the program, posting flyers or brochures, or using social media platforms.
  • Provide prize incentives, such as water bottles, exercise equipment or gift cards to encourage patients to enroll and/or to reward participants upon program completion.

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HELPFUL RESOURCES:
Recruitment Guide (Coming soon!)
Recruitment Presentation (Coming soon!)