Participant Engagement Strategies in a Housing First Randomized Trial

Anh-Dao Tran
White Center Community Development Association

Molly Brown
Camilla Cummings
DePaul University Department of Psychology

Conducting longitudinal Housing First research requires effective recruitment and engagement strategies to enroll individuals with prolonged homelessness histories who also have physical health and mental health vulnerabilities. In this article, we share our experiences working with participants in an attempt to conduct a randomized trial of single-site and scattered-site Housing First units in Seattle, Washington. We highlight considerations for the informed consent process, fostering participant agency, outreach strategies, issues with administration of measures, setting of boundaries, and ensuring participant safety. Our successes with participant engagement underscore the importance of a trauma-informed research philosophy, promoting a sense of choice for participants over the research process, and a perception of trustworthiness of the research team.