Results of a volunteer program to conduct dietary intervention research for women

The American Cancer Society (ACS) initiated the Breast Cancer Dietary Inter vention Project (BCDIP) to involve community volunteers in cancer-related i ntervention research activities focused on dietary fat reduction in women w ith breast cancel: This article presents data on the volunteer aspects of t he project, with two aims: (a) to describe the volunteer recruitment and in tervention designed for the BCDIP: conducted jointly by the American Cancer Society and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and (b) to present baseline characteristics and predictors of retention of the BCDIP volunteer s. There were Jive types of volunteers, called volunteer adjunct researcher s or VARs, in the BCDIP. VARs were recruited using a variety of approaches, including electronic media alerts, flyers in oncology clinics, and notices in the newsletters of state nursing and nutritional professional organizat ions. Over half of all VARs came from two main sources: the media (televisi on, radio, newspapers) and from work-related sources. Over half (58%) of th e VARs had professional licenses in nursing or dietetics, and 46% were empl oyed full-time. Several types of motivations for participating in the BCDIP , including altruistic reasons (want to help others, help people with cance r), health concerns (family/friend with breast cancel; have had cancer), an d work-related reasons (gain professional skills) were important. Sixty-eig ht percent of VARs remained with the project for its entirety. Predictors o f retention in the VAR program included previous ACS volunteer experience w ith initial motivations to volunteer and the interaction of employment stat us and professional nursing training. In future research and community-base d projects, better recruitment and volunteer coordination procedures should be used to reduce dropout rates and maintain volunteer commitment and part icipation.