It Could Be a Pearl to You: Exploring Recruitment and Retention of the Program to Encourage Active, Rewarding Lives (PEARLS) With Hard-to-Reach Populations: Table 1.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: We partnered with 3 social service organizations to identify hard-to-reach populations, barriers to reach, and strategies for improving recruitment and retention for Program to Encourage Active, Rewarding Lives (PEARLS), a home-based depression-care management program for elders. DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted semistructured interviews with staff and former PEARLS participants. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed. RESULTS: Veterans, African Americans, Filipino men, other immigrants and English-language learners, old-older adults, rural communities, and people with limited education were identified as hard to reach. The themes of trust, cultural appropriateness, meet them where they are, and framing and reframing, cut across barriers to participation in PEARLS and approaches for overcoming these barriers. IMPLICATIONS: Research findings will be used to inform technical assistance activities with PEARLS providers, changes to PEARLS program and training materials, and future PEARLS research activities.