BlackDoctor.org (BDO) attended the IncluDE Site Solutions Summit, held April 7-8 in Atlanta, GA, a gathering of the brightest minds focused on enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in clinical research. The summit underscored the importance of community engagement, spotlighting strategies to build trust, foster partnerships, and ensure that clinical trials reflect the diversity of the patient population.
Key Insights and Strategies
The summit highlighted that community engagement is essential for ensuring that all patients, regardless of background, can access innovative treatments. It emphasized the difference between community engagement, which is about building relationships, trust, and mutual understanding, and community outreach, which is more transactional and focused on disseminating information.
Several strategies and best practices were discussed to achieve meaningful community engagement:
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Understanding the Community Landscape: This involves defining the community, its needs, available resources, and potential barriers to healthcare access.
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Building and Maintaining Relationships: The importance of early engagement, transparency, active listening, and consistent communication to build trust and foster collaboration was a key takeaway.
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Cultural Sensitivity and Awareness: Recognizing and respecting the cultural values, traditions, and historical context of the community is crucial for bridging gaps and building trust.
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Tailoring Engagement Approaches: The summit stressed the need to tailor engagement strategies to meet the unique needs of diverse communities, address barriers to participation, and use a variety of communication methods.
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Resource Optimization: Effective community engagement requires dedicated resources. The summit provided insights on how to maximize existing staff, leverage technology, and automate tasks to optimize resource allocation.
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Demonstrating Impact: The importance of tracking key metrics such as partnerships formed, participant inclusion, and community feedback to demonstrate the impact of engagement efforts was discussed.
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Securing Funding: The summit also offered strategies for securing funding through partnerships, grant opportunities, and clear communication of needs to sponsors and Contract Research Organizations (CROs).
Featured Speakers
The IncluDE Site Solutions Summit brought together a diverse group of experts who shared their knowledge and experience:
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Hera Arham, MBA, MA, Executive Director, Marketing & Patient Engagement, DM Clinical Research, contributed insights into effective marketing and patient engagement strategies within clinical research.
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Jimmy Bechtel, MBA, Vice President, Site Engagement, SCRS, offered expertise on site engagement and strategies for fostering stronger relationships between research sites and communities.
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Lovie Negrin, DNP, APRN, Chief Executive Officer, Randomize Now Research Centers, shared her perspective on optimizing research centers to better serve diverse patient populations.
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Karri Venn, RD, CCRC, Vice President, Site Advocacy and Mentorship, SCRS, provided guidance on site advocacy and mentorship, crucial components of enhancing site capabilities in inclusive research.
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Khaled Ahmed, PhD, Site Director, FutureMeds, shared valuable insights from the perspective of a site director actively involved in implementing inclusive trial practices.
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Angel Akinbinu, MA, Senior Director, Research Inclusion and Representation, Syneos Health, offered expertise on strategies for improving research inclusion and representation within clinical trials.
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Christy Karakos, LPN, Senior Director, Quality Control, Velocity Clinical Research, contributed her knowledge on quality control processes that support inclusive research practices.
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Shelby Petereit, MS, Clinical Research Supervisor, Avera Research Institute, provided insights from a research institute perspective on effective strategies for community engagement and patient inclusion.
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Kim Ribeiro, MLS (ASCP)CM, MS, Chief Client Officer, Inside Edge Consulting Group, co-led a collaborative session on co-creating roadmaps for community engagement.
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Steve Satek, MBA, President, Great Lakes Clinical Trial Consulting, also played a key role in the community engagement session, sharing his expertise in this critical area.
The IncluDE Site Solutions Summit also featured discussions on the use of technology to recruit and enroll diverse patients in clinical trials. While many sites are open to using technology, the summit highlighted the importance of aligning technology with practices that are proven to be effective.
The summit also included the “Site Excellence in Patient Inclusion Award,” which recognized sites that prioritize patients, employ innovative strategies to enhance patient experiences, and promote community health and clinical trial education.
The IncluDE Site Solutions Summit served as a platform for sharing knowledge, strategies, and tools to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in clinical research. The emphasis on community engagement, cultural sensitivity, and адрес barriers to participation reflects a growing recognition of the importance of ensuring that clinical research benefits all segments of society.
