Researchers frequently have difficulty effectively communicating with communities. The HANDLS study team strived to develop an open communication channel by developing a bidirectional relationship with the community. Using the vehicles as health screening sites at high visibility city-wide events such as the Hispanic Festival, the NAACP African American Heritage Festival, and Gospel Fest provided an important opportunity for Baltimore residents to visit the vehicles and meet the staff outside of the researcher–study participant setting. Perhaps most importantly, it demonstrated active participatory community citizenship on the part of the HANDLS research entity. The team used this avenue to gather information about potential barriers to participation. Monetary compensation preference over gift tokens was one of the suggestions garnered from these interactions and was integrated into the study design.
