Specific Minority Groups Research Articles

Latvijas kultūrtelpa (1930–1939) vācbaltiešu pēcteču atmiņās

The purpose of this article is to reveal the Latvian cultural space of the 1930s, how it appears in present-day reminiscences of Baltic Germans, people with German heritage residing in Latvia, or their descendants. The data consists of extended interviews recorded as a part of the Latvian Academy of Culture project “Latvija – Heimatland” (2017–2019). One of the project objectives is to register and explore the reminiscences of this social group. The article analyses the accounts of 22 people residing in Latvia and 14 in Germany. These are accounts of events experienced either by themselves or their family members. It covers a time when the community of Latvians and Germans residing in Latvia was polarised by national interests, and the decade ended with Baltic Germans emigrating, followed by the Soviet occupation of Latvia. The Latvian cultural space of the 1930s is indirectly described by quotes from the respondents that relate to the resettlement in 1939 (Umsiedlung in German). The reminiscences illuminate cultural space components such as social practices, symbols, languages, and their use, traditions, and cuisine. The individual memories of Baltic Germans and their descendants significantly contribute to how the Latvian cultural space of the 1930s is already seen through collective memory, which includes monuments, written work, and art. They outline the lifestyle of this specific minority group, diversity of cultures, and interaction between them in Latvia, as well as a theme of Latvia as the lost motherland.

Intersections of (infra)structural violence and cultural inclusion: The geopolitics of minority cemeteries and crematoria provision

Building on embodied and de‐colonial approaches to geopolitics, this paper examines the relationship between forms of governance in municipal cemetery and crematorium provision and the needs of established minorities, arguing that inadequate infrastructure and services can constitute harm. Crucially, it is contended that forms of governance impact not only on the living, but also on perceptions of the wellbeing of the dead. Grounded in a study of four towns in England and Wales, the paper identifies firstly how intersectional identity fundamentally shapes people’s experiences of deathscape governance; secondly, the possibilities of infrastructural benefits of inclusive services; and thirdly, the harms done by non‐inclusive forms of governance, implicit territoriality and inadequate infrastructure. This is evidenced in the negative impact of poor municipal cemetery organisation and management on specific minority groups, such as inadequate burial space, high burial costs, hindrances to timely rituals, and reduced access to services as a result of government austerity measures; as well as protracted local planning processes. The conclusion calls for a wider conceptualisation of necropolitics, based on a critical‐feminist‐decolonial geopolitics of deathscapes in multicultural societies, and offers insights for the practical governance of inclusive cemeteries and crematoria.

Childhood adversity and physical health among Asian Indian emerging adults in the United States: Exploring disease-specific vulnerabilities and the role of anger.

Objective: The link between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and negative health outcomes is well established among middle-aged adults and within the general population; however, ACEs' impact on physical health among emerging adults and specific ethnic minority groups, such as distinct Asian American subgroups, remains understudied and poorly understood. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between ACEs, anger expression, stress, and physical health in a sample of Asian Indian (AI) emerging adults (18-29 years) living in the United States. Method: Participants (N = 132; Mage = 23.52; 13.6% first generation; 86.4% born in United States) completed an electronic questionnaire measuring variables of ACEs, anger expression, recent stress, health history, self-rated health, and recent physical illness symptoms. Chi-square, regression, and mediation analyses were conducted to examine associations among variables. Results: ACEs significantly predicted greater anger expression, perceived stress, number of chronic health conditions, and recent physical illness symptoms. Ninety-four percent of participants with ≥ 3 ACEs endorsed at least 1 previously diagnosed medical condition, and these participants exhibited remarkably high odds of diabetes and high blood pressure. Mediation analyses indicated anger expression significantly mediated ACEs' impact on recent stress and physical illness symptoms. Conclusions: Findings evidence that ACE-related physical health consequences are, in fact, already detectable by emerging adulthood among AI Americans. The distinct ACEs patterns and pronounced ACE-related health consequences found in this population warrant further study. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

다양성 특성(Diversity Characteristics)은 어떠한 경로로 이직의도에 영향을 미치는가? - 소속감 및 다양성 조직풍토 인식의 매개 및 조절효과를 중심으로 -

This study investigates how the workforce diversity characteristics in the Korean social and cultural context and unique industrial background affect the perception of inclusion and diversity climate, as well as the turnover intention using a structural equation model. The research results are as follows. First, among diversity characteristics, gender marital status , age, working area and department had a significant effect on the perception of inclusion and diversity climate. Second, among the diversity characteristics that did not have a direct effect on turnover intention, there was a path that lowered turnover intention by mediating the climate for diversity and inclusion in married men than married women. An indirect path was found for those in their 20s, who had a high turnover intention, to mediate inclusion and lower the intention to turnover. In addition, working area and department lowered turnover intention by mediating the two perceptions, where there was no direct effect. Third, the perception of climate for diversity has the effect of controlling the perception of inclusion, and in the high perception of climate for diversity, inclusion steeply lowered the turnover intention. It is urgently necessary to prepare an effective diversity management system in accordance with the characteristics of diversity identified in the Korean cultural context and unique organizational background. It was suggested that a cultural approach for all members is important beyond the focused diversity management of a specific minority group.

Comparing ethnic segregation across cities\u2014measurement issues matter

This paper investigates how important measurement issues such as the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP), random unevenness and spatial autocorrelation affect cross-sectional studies of ethnic segregation. We use geocoded data for German cities to investigate the impact of these measurement problems on the average level of segregation and on the ranking of cities. The findings on the average level of residential segregation turn out to be rather robust. The ranking of cities is, however, sensitive to the assumptions regarding reallocation of population across neighbourhoods that the use of different segregation measures involves. Moreover, the results suggest that standard aspatial approaches tend to underrate the degree of segregation because they ignore the spatial clustering of ethnic groups. In contrast, non-consideration of random unevenness gives rise to a moderate upward bias of the mean segregation level and involves minor changes in the ranking of cities if the minority group is large. However, the importance of random segregation significantly increases as the size of the minority group declines. If the size of specific ethnic groups differs across regions, this may also affect the ranking of regions. Thus, the necessity to properly account for measurement issues increases as segregation analyses become more detailed and consider specific (small) minority groups.

Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Predict Annual Increases in Generalized Prejudice

Although right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) are the two most studied individual difference correlates of prejudice, debate remains over their status as enduring constructs that precede generalized prejudice. We contribute to this discussion using 10 annual waves of longitudinal data from a nationwide random sample of adults to investigate the stability and temporal precedence of RWA, SDO, and prejudice among members of an ethnic majority group (Ns = 23,383–47,217). Results reveal high wave-to-wave rank-order stability for RWA, SDO, and generalized prejudice. Adjusting for their between-person stability, RWA and SDO predicted within-person increases in generalized prejudice. Results replicated when predicting (a) prejudice toward three specific minority groups (namely, Māori, Pacific Islanders, and Asians) and (b) anti-minority beliefs. These findings demonstrate that RWA and SDO are highly stable over 10 consecutive years and that they independently precede within-person annual increases in generalized prejudice and anti-minority beliefs.

Has religiosity become a key factor in Jewish Israelis' attitudes toward minorities? A call for research

PurposeAttitudes toward minority employees are hard to predict, and there is no enough information about the variables that are associated with increased and decreased prejudice toward them. The Jewish and Arab education systems in Israel are, for the most part, segregated, which may potentially contribute to prejudice and alienation between the two populations. The integration of Israeli–Arab teachers in Jewish schools has been suggested to reduce prejudice. The current study sought to examine Israeli teachers' attitudes toward the inclusion of Arab teachers in Jewish schools (AJ) and its relation to degree of religiosity, minority status and demographic variables.Design/methodology/approachA total of 1,644 teachers completed an online 22-item questionnaire that surveyed background variables such as gender, mother tongue, seniority and degree of religiosity, the two independent variables, religiosity and minority status, and the dependent variable, attitude toward the inclusion of AJ.FindingsOverall, teachers exhibited positive attitudes toward the integration of AJ. Multiple linear regression indicated that among Jewish teachers, the degree of religiosity was the strongest predictor of the teachers' attitudes toward inclusion but was a poor predictor among Arabs. Conversely, minority status was the strongest predictor among Arab teachers but was a poor predictor among Israeli Jews. Not only did religiosity differ in its prediction of attitudes among Arabs and Jews but also the patterns of religiosity were quite different among these two groups.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the overall sample was wide, the specific minority groups that were examined were small and did not allow deep exploration of minority nuances. The study's generalizability is hampered by the given exceptionality of the Israeli context, where “Church” and State are not separated. Religiosity was examined in a unidimensional way and failed to explore other related factors that may be relevant, such as political inclination.Practical implicationsThe study further refutes the notion of commonality among minorities. It proposes to place more emphasis on religion's role in attitudes toward minority employees. Further research into the role of religiosity in Israeli Jews' attitudes toward Arabs is needed.Social implicationsThe findings suggest that the degree of religiosity might be a central factor in Israeli Jews' attitudes toward the Arab minority in general.Originality/valueThe research calls attention to the association of Judaism and nationalism as well as segregation, contributing to negative attitudes and prejudice toward the Arab minority. Unlike previous research using contact theory, the authors call attention to the importance of examining willingness to make contact prior to examining the impact of contact itself.

Access to healthcare and self-rated health among refugees in transit and after arrival in Norway

Abstract Background Lack of basic infrastructure and poor provision of health services in conflict settings and during flight can have a negative impact on health. The overall health status of refugees seems to improve after arrival at a safe destination. This may be related to a safer environment and better access to health care services, but prior studies on this topic are limited. This study aims to assess self-perceived access to healthcare and its relationship with self-rated health (SRH) among refugees in transit and when settled in a host country. Methods We used data from the CHART study (Changing Health and health care needs Along the Syrian Refugees' Trajectories to Norway), which includes a cohort of 353 Syrian refugees who were contacted in 2017-2018 in Lebanon while waiting for relocation, and one year after their arrival to Norway. Information on self-perceived access to healthcare and its association with SRH was analyzed separately at each time-point. Data analysis was performed with STATA using logistic regression adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity and years of education and presented as adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% CI. Results Fifteen percent reported good access to healthcare and 62% reported good SRH in Lebanon vs. 91% and 77% respectively, in Norway. Measures in Lebanon showed no association between access to healthcare and good SRH (AOR: 1.2 (0.6-2.2)), and men reported worse access to healthcare than women (AOR: 0.5 (0.3-1.0). In Norway, access to healthcare was strongly associated with good SRH (AOR: 4.7 (2.1-10.7) and was negatively associated with belonging to one specific minority group (AOR: 0.1 (0.0-0.3)). Conclusions Both SRH and perceived access to care improved from being in transit to being settled in Norway, the latter substantially more. There was a significant association between access to healthcare and good SRH after the refugees' arrival to a safe host country but not in transit. Key messages Refugee’s self-reported health and access to healthcare seem to improve shortly after arrival to a host country. To ensure that the UN’S Sustainable Development Goals concerning health equity are reached, refugees’ access to healthcare in transit and its impact on overall health needs to be addressed.

Effectiveness of a Cultural Stroke Prevention Program in the United States-South Asian Health Awareness About Stroke (SAHAS).

There are few stroke education programs focused on the South Asian population in the United States. The South Asian Health Awareness about Stroke (SAHAS) program was developed to provide culturally appropriate stroke education to South Asians from 2014 to 2017. Participants recruited for the SAHAS program were educated through a uniquely developed, culturally-specific, educational presentation. Each participant was asked to complete identical educational questionnaires both before (pre-) and after (post-) the intervention, which were then scored and evaluated. Overall, the 357 participants who completed the SAHAS program had a significant, modest 9% improvement in questionnaire score (p < 0.0001). After adjusting for confounders, those ≤ 60years had a 2.9-point greater increase in score than those > 60 (p < 0.0001). Having programs targeted and developed for specific minority groups with an emphasis on familial commitment and active participation may aid in raising awareness and reducing the elevated adverse stroke outcomes in South Asians.

The Association Between State-Level Racial Attitudes Assessed From Twitter Data and Adverse Birth Outcomes: Observational Study.

BackgroundIn the United States, racial disparities in birth outcomes persist and have been widening. Interpersonal and structural racism are leading explanations for the continuing racial disparities in birth outcomes, but research to confirm the role of racism and evaluate trends in the impact of racism on health outcomes has been hampered by the challenge of measuring racism. Most research on discrimination relies on self-reported experiences of discrimination, and few studies have examined racial attitudes and bias at the US national level.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the associations between state-level Twitter-derived sentiments related to racial or ethnic minorities and birth outcomes.MethodsWe utilized Twitter’s Streaming application programming interface to collect 26,027,740 tweets from June 2015 to December 2017, containing at least one race-related term. Sentiment analysis was performed using support vector machine, a supervised machine learning model. We constructed overall indicators of sentiment toward minorities and sentiment toward race-specific groups. For each year, state-level Twitter-derived sentiment data were merged with birth data for that year. The study participants were women who had singleton births with no congenital abnormalities from 2015 to 2017 and for whom data were available on gestational age (n=9,988,030) or birth weight (n=9,985,402). The main outcomes were low birth weight (birth weight ≤2499 g) and preterm birth (gestational age <37 weeks). We estimated the incidence ratios controlling for individual-level maternal characteristics (sociodemographics, prenatal care, and health behaviors) and state-level demographics, using log binomial regression models.ResultsThe accuracy for identifying negative sentiments on comparing the machine learning model to manually labeled tweets was 91%. Mothers living in states in the highest tertile for negative sentiment tweets referencing racial or ethnic minorities had greater incidences of low birth weight (8% greater, 95% CI 4%-13%) and preterm birth (8% greater, 95% CI 0%-14%) compared with mothers living in states in the lowest tertile. More negative tweets referencing minorities were associated with adverse birth outcomes in the total population, including non-Hispanic white people and racial or ethnic minorities. In stratified subgroup analyses, more negative tweets referencing specific racial or ethnic minority groups (black people, Middle Eastern people, and Muslims) were associated with poor birth outcomes for black people and minorities.ConclusionsA negative social context related to race was associated with poor birth outcomes for racial or ethnic minorities, as well as non-Hispanic white people.

Externalizing Behavior Problems in Offspring of Teen Mothers: A Meta-Analysis.

Young maternal age at birth has been consistently recognized as a factor contributing to externalizing behavior. However, estimates of the magnitude of this association across existing studies are inconsistent. Such inconsistencies cloud the interpretation of the literature and highlight the need for a systematic synthesis of existing empirical evidence. Further, the roles of possible moderators in the association remain to be revealed. Moderation analyses will enhance the field’s capacity to evaluate needs and locate a subgroup of children born to teen mothers with particularly heightened vulnerabilities. To address these gaps, the present study had two primary aims. First, a meta-analysis was conducted to quantify the magnitude of the association between being born to young mothers and children’s externalizing behavior across existing studies. Second, moderation meta-analyses were conducted to evaluate whether the influence of being born to teen mothers on children’s externalizing behavior is stronger during specific developmental periods, for a specific gender, for a specific race, or across contexts with varying teen pregnancy rates at a societal level. The current study followed the PRISMA guidelines. The search utilized multiple electronic databases including Web of Science, ProQuest, PubMed, and Ovid MEDLINE through July 2019. Standardized mean difference, Cohen’s d, was used as a summary estimate of effect size. A random-effects model was conducted. Moderating effects were evaluated. Twenty-one effect sizes from 18 independent samples (n = 133,585) were included in the meta-analysis. The main meta-analysis and sensitivity analysis suggested a small yet robust association between teenage motherhood and children’s externalizing behavior problems. The relevant moderation analyses detected no statistically significant moderating effect for a specific gender, for racial and ethnic minority groups, during a specific developmental period, or across varying contexts. The current meta-analysis findings suggest that the impact of young maternal age on children’s externalizing behavior is small, yet independent. Further, such impacts of young maternal age were similar for girls and boys, in different racial and ethnic groups, across developmental periods, and across different contexts with varying teen pregnancy rates. Prevention efforts seeking to curb the emergence of youth’s externalizing behavior should focus on parenting teens, regardless of their child’s gender, race, age, or contexts. Further, the current findings suggest that prevention strategies for this specific group may benefit from a hybrid approach that combines universal, selective, and indicated prevention strategies.

Medical Professionalism and Humanitarian Health Care in the American Age of "-isms".

The 2003 IOM report Unequal Treatment documented the inferior health care accorded African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Subsequent research has shown that women, the elderly, LGBTQ individuals, and other specific minority groups also receive disparate care. Unequal treatment is often a product of subconscious mental functions including stereotyping and the neurological interconnection of the brain's emotional response and cognitive systems. Because these functions are hard-wired, they are not easily amenable to efforts to eliminate them from our thinking. But identifying and bringing them to light provides the opportunity to counteract them. The ACP-ABIM Professionalism Charter incorporates ameliorative precepts including altruism, moral reasoning, and conscious commitment to equal care. Medical Professionalism and Humanitarian Health Care in the American Age of "-isms" describes how empathetic or humanitarian care not only improves patient outcomes but provides meaning and satisfaction that enhances the well-being of the caregiver and counteracts physician burnout and dropout.

Learning Styles Determine Different Immigrant Students' Results in Testing Settings: Relationship Between Nationality of Children and the Stimuli of Tasks.

Background: Literature presents little examination on the learning styles and sensorial preferences of immigrants during decoding of different tasks in testing contexts. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, non-native children (between 2nd and 12th grade) were divided into six groups determined by country of origin and examined on different stimuli, visual and auditory, associated with four tasks that measure cognitive and linguistic specific abilities. Results: The multivariate analysis confirmed that the children’s nationality significantly explained achievement variability regarding picture recognition and auditory discrimination. η2 values indicated that there were moderate to larger effects for the nationality as a factor that explains the variance of performance. Conclusions: Results indicate that tasks’ stimuli can effectively assess and differentiate specific young minority groups in order to understand their actual level of preparation and their needs for further learning. The listening input, on the one hand, should be established as the main differentiator for all groups at the time of school entry, but, on the other hand, it should be avoided in Asian groups and Eastern European students during the first stages of second language (L2) learning in European contexts with romance languages as the target learning.

Developing an Algorithm for Combining Race and Ethnicity Data Sources in the Veterans Health Administration.

Racial/ethnic disparities exist in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), despite financial barriers to care being largely mitigated and Veterans Administration's (VA) organizational commitment to health equity. Accurately identifying minority veterans is critical to monitoring progress toward equity as the VHA treats an increasingly racially and ethnically diverse veteran population. Although the VHA's completeness of race and ethnicity data is generally better than its public sector and private counterparts, the accuracy of the race and ethnicity in the various databases available to VHA is variable, as is the accuracy in identifying specific minority groups. The purpose of this article was to develop an algorithm for constructing race and ethnicity variables from data sources available to VHA researchers, to present demographic differences cross the data sources, and to apply the algorithm to one study year. We used existing VHA survey data from the Survey of Healthcare Experiences of Patients (SHEP) and three commonly used administrative databases from 2003 to 2015: the VA Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW), VA Defense Identity Repository (VADIR), and Medicare. Using measures of agreement such as sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and Cohen kappa, we compared self-reported race and ethnicity from the SHEP and each of the other data sources. Based on these results, we propose an algorithm for combining data on race and ethnicity from these datasets. We included VHA patients who completed a SHEP and had race/ethnicity recorded in CDW, VADIR, and/or Medicare. Agreement between SHEP and other sources was high for Whites and Blacks and substantially lower for other minority groups. The CDW demonstrated better agreement than VADIR or Medicare. We developed an algorithm of data source precedence in the VHA that improves the accuracy of the identification of historically under-identified minorities: (1) SHEP, (2) CDW, (3) Department of Defense's VADIR, and (4) Medicare.

Multi-Dimensional Poverty in Vietnam: New Evidence from Jarai People in the Central Highlands, Vietnam

Ethnic minorities in Vietnam account for only 14% of the total population of Vietnam, but the proportion of poverty accounts for more than 52% of all poor households in the country. Based on an empirical research, the paper focuses on a specific ethnic minority group, Jarai people. Research results have shown that multidimensional poverty is not easily implemented in the context of changes in natural and social environments. Therefore, multi-dimensional poverty is both theoretical and scientific challenges, and creates obstacles to policy implementation in order to achieve efficiency in Vietnam’s commitment to implementing the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the United Nations.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Autism-Related Health and Educational Services.

The objective of this study is to measure racial and ethnic disparities in autism-related services among U.S. children with parent-reported autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Using the 2011 Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services, we analyzed parent-reported data on 1420 children with current ASD in the nationally representative sample. An estimation method consistent with the Institute of Medicine's definition of health care disparities is used to measure racial and ethnic disparities. The findings revealed Latino-white disparities in the percentage of children currently using school-based occupational and physical therapy and Latino-white and "other race"-white disparities in the percentage of children using physical therapy outside of school. There were no statistically significant black-white disparities. Instead, the study found that the percentage of black children with ASD receiving school-based services was 8 points higher than that of white children (p < 0.04). Factors unrelated to the need for autism services were largely unassociated with the receipt of services. The findings provide a partial baseline and identify a need for further examination of the source of existing disparities and the lack of disparities found for specific services and minority groups.

Exploring obstacles faced by gifted minority students through Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory

ABSTRACT For the past several decades, issues such as underrepresentation of racial/ethnic minority students in gifted programming, as well as the widening of the existing achievement gap between specific minority and majority groups have persisted. The majority of gifted education researchers studying underrepresentation in gifted programming focus on consequences resulting from a single setting in which the student interacts (e.g. home, school). Consequently, less attention is given to the nested network of interactions between multiple settings that play a role in underrepresentation. It is our goal to examine the existing frameworks that have been used to understand the obstacles faced by students who are underrepresented in their school’s gifted programs. By providing examples of proximal processes and the Process–Person–Context–Time (PPCT) model, we show how Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory provides the most suitable framework for exploring (1) identification issues for underrepresented minority students with gifted capabilities who have not been formally identified for gifted programming and (2) challenges faced by underrepresented minority students who have participated in a gifted program after having been formally identified as gifted. Research and educational implications are discussed.

Abstract A25: Community research navigators: The bridge to increasing ethnic minority participation in clinical research

Abstract The participation of underserved ethnic minorities in clinical research is critical to achieving progress in cancer control. Ethnic minority patient accrual in clinical trials is a formidable challenge that requires patient trust, commitment, and overcoming of barriers. Racial and ethnic minorities make up about 40% of the United States population, yet are not well represented in research studies. Less than 10% of all patients with cancer enrolled in clinical trials are minorities. Diverse participation may lead to more generalizable results for under-represented groups, more best practices for prevention and treatment to specific minority groups, increase in knowledge and awareness of disparities about cancer, and a more accurate reflection of the United States' increasingly diverse population. Although there is a proliferation of patient navigation programs to increase health care among the underserved, there is little known on its potential effects as a strategy to enhance minority clinical trial and biospecimen accrual. City of Hope has built a functional and sustainable program for addressing health inequity, which includes training a network of community research navigators (CRN) to address gaps in knowledge, medical mistrust, and access, and navigate participation and engagement of under-represented groups in research. The research navigator program draws from the patient navigation and promotora model and is a novel and innovative application to this approach. This approach has utility and applicability to address research participation barriers, including trust and referrals. It promises sustainability and cost effectiveness as trained CRNs can deliver the program. The Community Research Navigator (CRN) project enhances community advocates' capacity by training community health leaders/promotoras as community research navigators (CRN) to widen the dissemination of the clinical trial and research participation enrollment for increased ethnic minority participation in clinical trials and health-related research. CRNs attended a 1-day training on clinical trials and research. The training included educating and encouraging individuals to proactively think about and discuss clinical trial participation with their family, friends, and health care providers; disseminating information about specific research studies, targeting the African and Latino communities; and referring individuals to specific biospecimen, clinical trials, and population studies. In total, we trained and mentored a team of 14 CRNs. Participants were 24-66 years old; most were female (86%), Latino (69%), and single (43%). After participating in the training, participants were more likely to correctly define HIPAA (p=.040) and the types of clinical trials (p=.038). In addition, CRNs were more likely to encourage clinical research participation among their family after the training (p=0.034). Further, we measured confidence in various domains, including: increase in confidence in describing the purpose and process of clinical research (p=0.006); educating minority communities about clinical trials (p=0.045); and providing informational workshops/forums on clinical research (p=0.046). Participants had an increase in overall confidence (p=.033). Our findings demonstrate that the CRN strategy holds promise in increasing minority participation in cancer clinical trials. It is an innovative application of the extensively studied patient navigation approach that warrants research. Future research should focus on the CRN project as a cost-effective tool for enrollment and retention of ethnic minorities in cancer clinical trials and the potential of enhancing clinical trial understanding outcomes among participants. Citation Format: Marisela Garcia, Mayra Serrano, Alejandro Fernandez, Katty Nerio, Kimlin Ashing. Community research navigators: The bridge to increasing ethnic minority participation in clinical research [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Tenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2017 Sep 25-28; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018;27(7 Suppl):Abstract nr A25.

Health Equity in India: An Examination Through the Lens of Social Exclusion

To ensure health care access among the vulnerable and the poor is the prerogative of the State since the financial burden of curative care is higher among lower income groups, most of whom are Dalits. In the last 70 years, India has achieved considerable improvement in the health of its people. Nonetheless, the gap across social groups remains wide. There is evident association of low health status with poor, female gender, rural place of residence, tribal ethnicity, scheduled castes (SC) and specific minority groups. Therefore, the need is to revisit policy implementation regime and environment to ensure health equity. This article aims at explaining pertinent healthcare issues and challenges through select indicators of health, poverty, illness-induced expenditure and coping mechanisms across social groups.

Race and Ethnicity in the Evidence for Integrating Palliative Care Into Oncology.

ASCO recommends early involvement of palliative care for patients with advanced cancers on the basis of evidence from 18 randomized trials. We examined racial and ethnic minority representation in these trials and the role of race and ethnicity in the statistical analyses. The goal was to identify specific gaps in the palliative care evidence base for these individuals and potential strategies to address them. We reviewed the 18 trials cited in the 2012 and 2017 ASCO clinical statements on integrating palliative care into oncology. We extracted data on the reporting and categorization of race and ethnicity, on the enrollment of specific racial and ethnic minority groups, and on how race and ethnicity were addressed in the analyses. One third of patient trials reported representation of specific racial and ethnic minority groups, one third reported rates of "white" versus "other," and one third did not report race or ethnicity data. Among the patient trials with race and ethnicity data, 9.9% of participants were Asian, 8.8% Hispanic/Latino, and 5.7% African American. Analyses that used race and ethnicity were primarily baseline comparisons among randomized groups. Race and ethnicity were inconsistently reported in the trials. Among those that provided race and ethnicity data, representation of specific racial and ethnic minority groups was low. In addition to more research in centers with large minority populations, consistent reporting of race and ethnicity and supplementary data collection from minority patients who participate in trials may be strategies for improvement.