Exploring Health Beliefs for Community Engagement and Diversity in Clinical Trials

Improving inclusion and engagement of diverse populations in clinical research can broaden the relevance and translation of research findings into practice. This project will develop a toolkit aimed at advancing inclusion and engagement of diverse and minority populations in clinical research. The toolkit will provide researchers and community partners a guide to taking individual, cultural, and structural perspectives into consideration when proposing clinical research. This project will take place southern New Mexico, an area with a highly diverse population, where many groups are impacted by Opiate Use Disorder and there has been low clinical trial engagement.  We will examine, adapt, test, and produce a clinical research engagement toolkit that can be used to enhance engagement in clinical research by addressing both individual and structural barriers to engagement.