ABSTRACT
Travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic forced researchers to recruit remotely, further challenging the recruitment of "hard-to-reach" populations, such as rural communities. Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is a service of the USPS in which mail is sent to all 'postal customers' in a designated region. While relatively underexplored as a research tool, 1 study reported similar response rates to addressed survey mailings with lower cost and potentially lower demographic bias. To evaluate the utility of EDDM as a tool for recruiting a representative sample of rural households in Appalachia Ohio. As part of a larger effort to evaluate community resource utilization in relation to diet, health and food security, a study recruitment postcard was sent via EDDM to all residential addresses (n = 31,201) within an 18 zip code region in Southeastern OH in June 2020. Adult residents were invited to complete a survey online via QR code or short link or to call for a mailed survey. Respondent demographic characteristics were generated using SPSS and compared with the region's 2019 U.S. Census Bureau statistics. A total of 724 households completed the survey, reflecting a response rate lower than estimates for addressed mailings (2.3% vs 6%). Compared to census data, a greater proportion of respondents were female (68% vs 51%), and highly educated (60% vs 36% college graduates);a smaller proportion were non-Hispanic (90% vs 98%), White (88% vs 92%), had ≥1 child in the household (23% vs 28%), and a household income <$50k (42% vs 54%). Notably, the median age was higher (55 vs 30 years), with 29% being retirees. EDDM was a viable method for remote recruitment of a rural sample. Further work is needed to explore its efficacy in recruiting representative samples, and studies to inform best practices for its use are warranted. NIH, The Ohio State University's Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation (InFACT), a Discovery Themes program (learn more at discovery.osu.edu/infact);Award Number UL1TR002733 National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (#5591);and, the Clinical Research Center/Center for Clinical Research Management of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and The Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus, Ohio. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, the National Institutes of Health, or The Ohio State University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
ABSTRACT
During the spring 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, faculty and staff within Ohio State University's College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences came together from multiple disciplines to support essential agricultural workers. Concerted leadership from administration provided a framework for this interaction to occur while faculty worked off-campus to address the many issues identified by the agricultural community, the industry sector, and other state agencies. During the onset period, much of our work was reactive; our efforts to address worker safety and health involved three primary areas within: 1) production agricultural workers, 2) produce growers and direct marketing enterprises, and 3) meat supply chain workers. Communication to target audiences relied upon our ability to convert face-to-face programming into virtual webinars, social media, and digital publications. A Food System Task Force mobilized specialists to address emerging issues, with one specific topic related to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). As we continue to face new seasons in agriculture production, and pockets of COVID-19 outbreaks within our state, we will continue to address the dynamic needs of our food supply systems. There are implications for how we will teach the agricultural workforce within a virtual platform, including the evaluation of the effectiveness of those training programs. There are renewed opportunities to integrate health and safety content into other Extension teams who conventionally focused on production practices and farm management topics. Several research themes emerged during subgroup dialog to pursue new knowledge in workers' cultural attitude and barriers, PPE design, PPE access, and overall attitude toward COVID-19 health practices.