Faith-based communities’ preferred interventions to improve the participation of black/African-American persons in medical research and clinical trials: A focus group study.

Abstract

e18648 Background: A variety of interventions within faith-based and medically underserved communities have been utilized to increase racial/ethnic minorities’ participation in health programming and clinical trials. However, the literature lacks studies on which interventions are preferred by church members and leaders to address disparities in clinical trials. Methods: The study utilized focus groups to understand participants’ knowledge and attitudes about medical research/clinical trials and to develop and appraise interventions for and in collaboration with members and leaders of predominately Black/African American faith-based organizations. Participants were recruited by convenience and snowball sampling from organizations involved in the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center Community Outreach program’s faith based model called, Stopping Cancer In Its Tracks (SCIIT). Study personnel conducted 6 focus groups at 6 different churches from June through August 2022. Results: 30 participants joined the study. Conversations lasted 90-120 minutes and covered a range of topics. Each group included deep, cathartic sharing about disparities in accessing medical/cancer care and racism, particularly within medicine. Participants explained that low enrollment among Black/African-Americans in clinical trials is a result of everyday and structural racism. Also disparities are linked to the compounded, long-term lack of beneficence or human rights within research and health care for their communities. Accordingly, diversity in clinical trials may improve by creating interventions that address distrust, communication, and information and access gaps, and are tailored to each church. Preferred interventions should: 1) Embody a deep, long-term, relationship-building process. 2) Focus on creating trust by sharing in church services/activities/meals/two-way conversations/cancer screenings. 3) Leverage testimonials from cancer survivors who have participated in clinical trials. The focus groups themselves were felt by participants to be an example of the trust building and knowledge sharing necessary to address disparities. Participants expressed interest to develop interventions in partnership with the study personnel of health care workers. Conclusions: The study fills a gap in the literature by analyzing and amplifying the ideas of Black/African-American church members and leaders from medically underserved communities who generally have been excluded from research. Participants preferred interventions that feature long-term relationship building and engagement. Future research should implement and test the effectiveness of these interventions.