Underserved populations in the U.S. including members of minority populations and the elderly have not benefited from the investments made in the nation's healthcare system. As a result, it has become a national initiative to engage underserved populations more effectively in translational research and clinical trials as one component of improving the health and well being of underserved populations.

           The Arizona Biomedical Research Commission and the Flinn Foundation convened a working group of representatives of leading healthcare and research organizations in Arizona to identify key issues that hinder or discourage members of underserved populations from engaging in translational research programs.

           At the heart of the matter is the imperative to establish community-based participatory research as the guiding approach for ongoing collaborations with the Native American and Hispanic/Latino communities.

Activities to Date:

• In collaboration with the Arizona Health Policy and Law Institute at UofA, AzTransNet participated in discussions with Hispanic community representatives in Tucson and Maricopa County. The Tucson Hispanic Coalition involved over 30 community representatives and the Maricopa Hispanic Community Action Group involves 20 community representatives. Key input was solicited to the following questions:
  
  
  • What are the most pressing problems for healthcare in the Hispanic/Latino populations?
  
  
  
  • What are the feelings of community members about participation in clinical trials?
  
  
  
  • What are some of the reasons for or against participation?
  
  
  
  • What would you like researchers to know about your community and their healthcare issues in order to improve communications and thereby help Hispanic Latino communities benefit from research?
  
  Hispanic community members have become volunteers to assist in the development of initiatives that will contribute to other aspects of the AzTransNet project. One of these initiatives is to increase community participation in relevant IRB committees



• AzTransNet has also held meetings with the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona on how to advance community-based participatory research.

Ongoing Activities:

• AzTransNet has drafted a handbook to familiarize and guide investigators in the principles and applications of Community-Based Participatory Research - one geared towards working with Hispanic/Latino community and one geared for collaborations with Native American community. These draft Guidebooks to Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) are now being reviewed by members of the community and researcher professionals.

Learn More About Other Initiatives

• Click here to learn about other initiatives for advancing collaboration sponsored by ABRC