Increasing inclusivity in patient centered research begins with language

Area of Science:

• Health Equity
• Clinical Research
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Emergency departments (EDs) serve diverse populations, including many marginalized groups.
• Spanish-speaking families in EDs often face significant unmet social needs.
• Existing research recruitment methods present language barriers for non-English speaking participants.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate efficient methods for screening unmet social needs in ED families.
• To identify and address language-related barriers in recruiting Spanish-speaking research participants.
• To advocate for policy changes promoting language equity in clinical research.

Main Methods:

• Screening families in the ED for unmet social needs.
• Referring participants with positive screens to community resources.
• Analyzing language discordance as a barrier to participant recruitment.

Main Results:

• Language discordance poses significant recruitment challenges for Spanish-speaking families.
• These barriers exacerbate existing inequities in research participation.
• Current systems present systemic obstacles to enrolling non-English speaking research participants.

Conclusions:

• Advocating for expanded interpreter services and multilingual research staff is crucial.
• Reducing costs for translated research materials and promoting language equity in journal reviews are necessary.
• Addressing language barriers is a vital first step towards equitable representation in healthcare research.