Tailoring Recruitment Communication using Virtual Human Technology to Increase Participation of Older Minority Adults in Clinical Trials

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundOlder adult minorities are an underserved population, who are at a particularly high risk for developing chronic health conditions and are significantly underrepresented in clinical research. Well‐known barriers, including research‐related mistrust (e.g., belief that participants lack choice, mistrust of white researchers), complicated messaging, lack of cultural diversity/sensitivity among clinical trials staff, and the exclusion of decisional support providers in decision‐ making could impede older adult minority participation in clinal trials.Tailoring content and source preferences to be patient‐ centered, culturally sensitive (i.e., promote feelings of comfort, trust, respect), simple to understand, and personally relevant to the receivers (patients and caregivers) has been linked to positive health behaviors among older adult minorities. Additionally, tailoring is critical to improving comprehension, clear and complete understanding of the messaging. However, tailoring has not been systematically studied as a strategy to increase clinical trial participation rates of older adult minorities, including those with cognitive challenges. Our long‐term goal is to increase clinical trial participation among older adult minorities (Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and/or rural adults over the age of 50) using virtual human technology (VHT). Specifically, we are using community‐based participatory research principles to develop virtual humans that can interact with receivers to deliver tailored intervention content.MethodIn Aim 1, we will conduct focus groups with older adult minorities to redesign ALEX to develop culturally sensitive messages designed specifically for older adults, including those with subjective cognitive difficulties. In Aim 2, we will disseminate the intervention and track engagement of older adult minority participants into active, NIH‐funded clinical trials across different modalities for remotely delivering ALEX. In Aim 3, we will compare whether using ALEX to deliver interactive and tailored clinical trial content is more effective than standard (e.g., static) recruitment materials for enrolling older minorities into NIH‐funded clinical trials.ResultWe will describe patient and caregiver preferences for intervention modality and content.ConclusionAchievement of these project aims is expected to result in an adaptable, minimally tailored VHT recruitment intervention for increasing older adult minority participation rates in active NIH‐funded clinical trials.