[Strategies to recruit immigrant women to participate in qualitative research].

OBJECTIVE: The present article aims to describe the process of selecting and recruiting women from distinct sociocultural backgrounds who participated in a qualitative research project and to outline the difficulties encountered according to the women's origin.
METHODS: Research was carried out in Barcelona from 2007 to 2008 to identify how culture influences participation in a breast cancer early detection program.
RESULTS: The study population consisted of native women and immigrant women from developing countries aged 40 to 69 years old resident in Barcelona. Participants were recruited through multiple strategies: key informants, cultural mediators, healthcare professionals, associations, religious institutions, the media, posters, adult education and language schools, and the population census.
CONCLUSIONS: The recruitment process cannot be confined to a single source and associations, religion institutions and cultural mediators are the most effective resources.