Using social media to recruit parents for diabetes research

Aim: The aim of this paper is to describe the use of Facebook for recruitment of parents for diabetes research. Method: An online self-administered questionnaire was designed in Survey Monkey and was available via a dedicated Facebook page. Data was collectedfrom parents (66) of children with type 1 diabetes attending an Australian primary school (kindergarten-Year 2). Results: 84 people "liked" the Diabetes at school Facebook page. 781 people were directly reached in Australia. The page was predominately accessed by females (78%), aged 35-44 years (34%) and 25-34 (29%). The two major cities in Australia were Melbourne, Victoria (94) and Sydney, NSW (83). The diabetes at school Facebook page was visited frequently during early February and the highest number of views in one day was 50. Conclusion: The key benefits of using Facebook to recruit parents for diabetes research were; the ease of use, increased access, cost saving and immediate collection of data.