Achieving diversity, equity and inclusion in clinical trials

Making sure clinical trials are diverse and representative of the populations they’re studying isn’t just the right thing to do to promote inclusivity and equity; it’s also just good science/clinical scientific practice. But despite growing efforts to improve, many organisers still fall short when it comes to reaching, recruiting and retaining diverse patient populations in clinical trials.

The absence of diversity in clinical trials has a significant impact on minority populations and possibly even the result of clinical trials, as health authorities move towards regulating and requiring a study population to be inclusive/diverse, contributing towards social and health disparities experienced by underrepresented, underserved, and minority populations.

In a new whitepaper, Achieving diversity, equity and inclusion in clinical trials, an expert in patient recruitment with a track record of over 16 years Clariness provides a framework to help the clinical trial research industry develop a nuanced and targeted approach to understanding who these patients are and how to make sure they’re included.

Diversity is complex and successfully incorporating it into clinical trial designs requires a multilevel and intersectional approach. While there are still many unknowns surrounding whether certain patient groups respond differently to certain treatments – due to (epi)genetic differences or external societal and cultural factors – including more diverse patients is the first step towards untangling this web.

To help companies gain a deeper understanding of how to achieve diversity in clinical trials and better serve a wider range of patient communities, Clariness’ whitepaper examines:

• What is diversity, and how is it measured?
• Potential barriers that exclude communities from clinical research
• Solutions for improving diversity, equity and inclusion in trials
• The benefits of adopting a patient-centric approach

Understanding definitions of diversity, as well as group-specific barriers is a critical step toward improving social and health equity for all patients. With new regulations, including the 2021 guidance’s by the European Medicines Agency and US FDA emphasising the need for greater representation, addressing this issue is now even more vital for clinical researchers.

Read and download the full Achieving diversity, equity and inclusion in clinical trials whitepaper.