Lessons learned about minority recruitment and retention from the Centers on Minority Aging and Health Promotion.

PURPOSE This article presents a summary of an earlier monograph on the recruitment and retention of older ethnic minority individuals. DESIGN AND METHODS The authors provide an overview of recruitment and retention efforts made by six National Institutes of Health Office of Minority Research/National Institute on Aging-funded Centers on Minority Aging and Health Promotion. We rely on a model that focuses on barriers and enablers to recruitment that stem from the minority community as well as the research community. RESULTS The summary of findings suggests that recruitment and retention success occurs when there is a match between the goals of the ethnic minority communities and the research community. IMPLICATIONS Recognizing and understanding the culture of each ethnic minority community as well the research perspectives is essential to successful recruitment and retention of ethnic minority elderly individuals.