Participation of minority communities in clinical trials

However, a less explored area of research has to do with the nature of research participants or subject as well as how they are involved in the studies; of particular importance being the involvement of minority communities in clinical trials. This will form the basis of this study as we seek to explore the extent of minority communities’ involvement in clinical trials, its importance, and factors that hinder their involvement in clinical research. The current study takes the case of the Hispanic community to study factors affecting the participation of minority communities in clinical trials. Background and significance Minority communities do not participate in clinical trials as their counterparts who are not minorities. This is especially true for African-American communities and the Hispanic communities.

Poor communication, according to this study, forms an important basis of impediment towards recruiting participants to a clinical trial. Other factors likely to inhibit people from participating in clinical trials include incompetence to communicate in English, as well as cultural factors that yield mistrust. Practical and logistical barriers involve mobility considerations. The study finds that the use of multimedia resources can help overcome some of the barriers encountered during patient recruitment to clinical trialsError: Reference source not found. For instance, the application of “culturally and linguistically sensitive” multimedia can help resolve the problem of inclusion of minority individuals in clinical trials. argue that the recruitment process of clinical trials can be quite challenging and it may take longer than anticipated2. Their study involved investigating the number of patients approach and their decision to participate in clinical trials.

Moreover, they investigated the motivation behind participation in clinical trials and patient opinions about various aspects of cancer research. The study found that patients may consent to more than one trials. The major reasons behind their participation in clinical trials include potential personal benefit and altruistic reasonsError: Reference source not found. This showed that there is still more to be done to ensure that patients and potential participants to clinical trials understood the nature of informed consent and what it entails. In a study investigating how communication affects decision making on involvement in clinical trials, it was elucidated that a bigger proportion of patients are not offered the opportunity to participate in trials4. When trial opportunities are offered, the patients take them.

The study also found that communication was an important determinant in decisions to participate in the trailsError: Reference source not found. These findings are important as they can help physicians and other researchers to model their messages and communications in a way that yields more participants in clinical trials. On the other hand, quantitative research will help with assessing facts from a numerical and factual point of view. This will involve using arithmetic data to draw inferences and conclusions. A combination of these two methods will help ensure that the limitations of one method are offset by the other, thus ensuring the validity of this study. For instance, qualitative research can opinions and thoughts but is subject to biases from both the researcher and the respondent.