Abstract
ObjectiveNon-native English speaking workers with a mild work-related traumatic brain and/or head injury are a vulnerable and underrepresented population in research studies. The researchers present their experiences with recruiting and performing qualitative interviews with non-native English speaking individuals with a work-related mild traumatic brain injury, and provide recommendations on how to better include this vulnerable population in future research studies. This paper presents considerations regarding ethics, recruitment challenges, interview preparation and debriefing, sex & gender and language and cultural issues must be made when working with this vulnerable population.ResultsThe researchers discuss critical issues and provide recommendations in recruiting and engaging with non-native English language workers including ethics, recruitment challenges, interview preparation and debriefing, sex & gender and language, and cultural considerations that must be made when working with this population. The study recommendations advise investigators to spend more time to learn about the non-native English participants in the mild wrTBI context, to be familiar with the vulnerabilities and specific circumstances that these workers experience. By increasing their awareness of the challenging facing this vulnerable population, the intention is to provide better care and treatment options through evidence-based research and practice.
Highlights
In-depth qualitative interviews allow researchers to communicate with those who have knowledge of or experience with the problem of interest [1]
Researchers discover in detail the experiences, motivations, and opinions of others and learn to see the world from their perspectives [1]
In-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted by a research associate (BNK) who has training in qualitative interviewing methods and expertise in work-related head and/or traumatic brain injury
Summary
Ethical considerations The study received research ethics approval. Accessing vulnerable populations for research purposes can be arduous, as participants must be protected from research that might be insensitive, intrusive, and potentially distressing [9]. One participant consented and agreed to participate in the interview but only after establishing trust with the researchers over a period of 8 weeks as a consequence of the injury. This worker was injured in a work environment where his trust in his co-workers was broken on several instances and which led directly to their injury, and initial distrust of research team members. The researcher establishes trust by creating a supportive environment, using their knowledge of the topic (head injuries and the return to work process) and cumulative experience in the field of occupational health and safety. As a recommendation (see Table 1), the researchers suggest that research hospitals in urban centers (serving multi-ethnic and lingual communities) provide the necessary resources (e.g., financial and human) to have certified site interpreters help in the recruitment on nonnative English speakers to research studies by incorporating these costs into grant applications
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