Recruitment

All of our Human Research Studies Involve Recruiting Participants from the Community

SPRC research focuses on health promotion and disease prevention for the general public. The research questions asked by SPRC investigators always have fairly direct relevance to everyday life. Characteristics targeted in our studies include specific health conditions or risk factors such as:

  • Being overweight
  • Having high cholesterol or blood pressure
  • Being a cigarette smoker

We typically conduct our research studies with individuals such as school-children, postmenopausal women, or care-givers recruited from the general population. Participants most often come from nearby Bay area communities.

Opportunities and Benefits

Most current studies can be accessed by the Internet, and many of our recent studies use Internet surveys to help potential participants determine their eligibility. Several opportunities for improving your health can arise from becoming a research participant.  The most obvious include learning how to:

  • Change your diet
  • Increase your physical activity
  • Stop smoking
  • Lose weight
  • Adopt other healthy lifestyle changes

There are no guarantees that being a research participant will improve your health. You could be place in a placebo group or find that specific lifestyle changes don’t make a significant difference. However, almost everyone involved does learn important information about their health.

What are the Risks?

The risks involved in SPRC studies are very low.   The most significant "risk" is some inconvenience.  You may have to:

  • Attend classes, meetings or workshops
  • Fill out are surveys, or complete telephone interviews with SPRC staff
  • Come in for an early morning blood sampling
  • Sustain a mild injury, such as a sprained ankle from being more physically active

Usually, the benefits of potential health improvements or knowledge gained outweigh any inconvenience.

For Knowledge and Science

One clear message we get in study after study is that regardless of the final results or the actual changes in their own health, most research participants feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment from being involved in a SPRC study.   They understand that the energy and efforts put into the studies generate new knowledge and help to move the science of health promotion and disease prevention forward. We sincerely hope that if you are eligible for one of our studies that you will consider responding to our recruitment calls and become an SPRC research participant.