By Natasha Crumby
Training clinical and research staff to optimize minority recruitment can assist with the clinical trial disparities that exist today. With the complexity of clinical trials, there are multiple areas of improvement that are possible to help increase minority participation. Start first with the perspectives of the clinical and research staff by accessing what their training and educational needs are related to minority recruitment. In a study published last year in the Journal of Cancer Education ninety-one quantitative interviews were conducted, transcribed, and recorded among cancer care center leaders, principal investigators, referring physicians, and research staff.
Four themes from the study were identified:
1. Research staff are not being trained on recruitment and retention of minority populations.
2. Minority participation relies on factors that will influence minority participation.
3. Cultural awareness training is needed.
4. There is a lack of consistency in the importance of minority recruitment training.
MD Newsline’s mission is to increase the amount of content and research related to cultural awareness training and health disparities and leverage this as a tool to improve outcomes for under represented populations. Cultural awareness training provides a pathway to better understanding, acknowledgement of implicit bias, and more effective outreach to minority patient populations.
