Community engagement and clinical trial diversity: Navigating barriers and co-designing solutions-A report from the "Health Equity through Diversity" seminar series

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 18; no. 2; p. e0281940
• Main Authors: Reopell, Luiza, Nolan, Timiya S, Gray, 2nd, Darrell M, Williams, Amaris, Brewer, LaPrincess C, Bryant, Ashley Leak, Wilson, Gerren, Williams, Emily, Jones, Clarence, McKoy, Alicia, Grever, Jeff, Soliman, Adam, Baez, Jna, Nawaz, Saira, Walker, Daniel M, Metlock, Faith, Zappe, Lauren, Gregory, John, Joseph, Joshua J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 16-02-2023; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: African Americans; Biology and Life Sciences; Biopharmaceuticals; Biotechnology; Cancer; Cardiovascular disease; Clinical trials; Community; Community involvement; Community participation; Consciousness; Discrimination; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Ethnic factors; Ethnic groups; Ethnicity; Fairness; Gynecology; Health disparities; Health Equity; Hispanic Americans; Humans; Infectious diseases; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Minority & ethnic groups; Minority Groups; Moderators; Participation; People and places; Pharmaceuticals; Populations; Public health; Racial Groups; Racism; Research and Analysis Methods; Seminars; Social networks; Social Sciences; States; Therapeutic applications; Trust; United States; Workforce; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281940

In recent years, there has been increasing awareness of the lack of diversity among clinical trial participants. Equitable representation is key when testing novel therapeutic and non-therapeutic interventions to ensure safety and efficacy across populations. Unfortunately, in the United States (US), racial and ethnic minority populations continue to be underrepresented in clinical trials compared to their White counterparts.
Two webinars in a four-part series, titled "Health Equity through Diversity," were held to discuss solutions for advancing health equity through diversifying clinical trials and addressing medical mistrust in communities. Each webinar was 1.5 hours long, beginning with panelist discussions followed by breakout rooms where moderators led discussions related to health equity and scribes recorded each room's conversations. The diverse groups of panelists included community members, civic representatives, clinician-scientists, and biopharmaceutical representatives. Scribe notes from discussions were collected and thematically analyzed to uncover the central themes.
The first two webinars were attended by 242 and 205 individuals, respectively. The attendees represented 25 US states, four countries outside the US, and shared various backgrounds including community members, clinician/researchers, government organizations, biotechnology/biopharmaceutical professionals, and others. Barriers to clinical trial participation are broadly grouped into the themes of access, awareness, discrimination and racism, and workforce diversity. Participants noted that innovative, community-engaged, co-designed solutions are essential.
Despite racial and ethnic minority groups making up nearly half of the US population, underrepresentation in clinical trials remains a critical challenge. The community engaged co-developed solutions detailed in this report to address access, awareness, discrimination and racism, and workforce diversity are critical to advancing clinical trial diversity.