Increasing diversity in research through dedicated language access services

In the context of research, one challenge at higher education and medical institutions that are engaged in high levels of research activities is recruiting and enrolling participants for research studies and clinical trials (1) who are of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and (2) whose primary language is not English. By 2020, of the 330 million people living in the U.S., 63% identified as White, 17% identified as Hispanic, 13% identified as Black, 5% identified as Asian, and 1% identified as other. With this shift in ethnic and racial demographics, researchers need to update their methods of recruitment as well as the information and documents provided about research opportunities. The University of Utah's Office Research Participant Advocacy (RPA) was created at the University of Utah in 2008 with an aim to identify and support individuals volunteering for research study participation. The focus of the important and uniquely situated office is to ensure that participants have the information they need for informed research participation, but also to provide researchers with oral and written language services to increase participant diversity in research studies. This short communication describes efforts underway at the RPA to ensure that information about and documents connected to research opportunities are congruent with the needs of research participants and offer equity for participation in research for a shifting cohort of diverse individuals.