July 2007, Volume 4 Issue 3

New DVDs Target African American, Hispanic Audiences

Four new educational videos are giving heightened visibility to the contributions of minorities in clinical research today. Developed from a partnership among CISCRP, Eli Lilly and Company, Public Health Television (PHTV), and academic medical and community health centers, the new videos present the real-life stories and experiences of African American and Hispanic clinical research volunteers. Using clear, everyday language that is culturally appropriate and easily understood, the videos are the first clinical research DVDs to be specifically aimed at minority audiences. The videos detail the clinical research process, including the different phases of testing and questions to ask before participating in a study. The void in information about minority participation in clinical research prompted the videos’ creation. Although African Americans, Hispanics and Asians represent over one-third of the U.S. population, the number of minorities who participate in clinical trials has dropped from 12% in 1995 to less than eight percent in 1999. Among Hispanics, the numbers show a small but still troubling decline, falling from 3.7% in 1996 to just 3% in 2002. Maintaining adequate minority representation in clinical research is crucial to ensuring that the results of clinical research studies are relevant to all.

Edgar Jackson, MD, who directs diversity initiatives for University Hospitals of Cleveland, is one of more than a dozen physicians and educators featured in the videos. Speaking about the African American community’s longstanding reluctance to participate in clinical research, he advises, “It is to our advantage as a people to participate (in clinical trials) as individuals and the next generation… People aren’t going to hide information and mistreat you. It just doesn’t happen anymore.”

Many steps were taken to reach the diverse branches of the nation’s Hispanic population. Individuals from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Columbia, Costa Rica, and Peru collaborated on the Spanish language videos’ production, and the finished DVDs feature individuals, and icons of faith and family from different Hispanic cultures. Prominent Hispanic physicians, including medical oncologist Yull Arriaga, MD, of the Simmons Cancer Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center; Leonidas Castro, MD, of MetroHealth Medical Center; Pablo Mora, MD, of UT Southwestern Medical Center; and Alfredo Lopez-Yunez, MD, director of Centro Medico Alivio, are featured in the videos and participated in their production. Great care was taken to ensure that the Spanish used in the videos would be universally understood. Instead of translating the original scripts from English to Spanish, the videos were written and produced entirely in Spanish from the ground up.

The videos will be used by academic medical centers, community health centers, and clinical research organizations to bring minorities into the mainstream of clinical research participation. To find out more about the African American and Hispanic Clinical Trials Education Project or to purchase copies of the DVDs, please click here or phone 1-888-CISCRP3 (247-2773).

To view other articles in this issue, click here.