3205 A TL1 Team Approach to Examine Rural Tobacco Users’ Barriers to Participating in Research

Abstract

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Our overarching theoretical framework is the health belief model (HBM). Guided by HBM, we aim to identify rural adults’ perceived barriers and motivations to participating in research. Specifically, our research questions are listed below. RQ1: What socio-cultural factors influence rural tobacco users’ intentions to a) participate in research studies and b) undertake tobacco cessation? RQ2: What bio-psychological and behavioral factors influence rural tobacco users’ intentions to a) participate in research studies and b) undertake tobacco cessation? RQ3: How do rural tobacco users perceive citizen scientists as disseminators of a) tobacco cessation and b) recruitment messages? METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: In Phase I of this multi-stage project, we are conducting in-depth interviews with approximately 30 tobacco users in rural Florida. The interview consists of semi-structured questions and multiple validated questionnaires. Specifically, we ask a series of questions about participants’ barriers to participating in research. Additionally, we include questionnaires on participants’ tobacco use history, nicotine dependence, motivation to quit, and willingness to participate in research studies. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: This study consists of two main phases. Data collection for Phase 1 of the study is ongoing, and we will discuss these recent findings. We anticipate data collection and data analysis to be finalized by May, 2019. Beginning in August 2019 through August 2020, we will focus on Phase II, which entails designing and implementing an intervention to increase rural tobacco users’ willingness to participate in research. Given existing literature on other underrepresented groups in research, we anticipate that rural tobacco users will express that logistical barriers, such as transportation and time, prevent them from participating in research. Additionally, we anticipate these individuals may have socio-cultural barriers to participating in research, including distrust in the medical system and apprehension over discipline-specific terminology. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: The results of this formative research will be critical to our development of a targeted intervention to increase rural tobacco users’ participation in research. Additionally, our interdisciplinary and community-based approach in this study acknowledges the importance of involving the target population in the research process, which is in line with NIH’s updated model of translational research. We will discuss the process of collaborating with extension agents in rural counties in Florida to reach underrepresented communities.