Barriers and facilitators for engaging underrepresented ethnic minority populations in healthcare research: an umbrella review.

IF 4.5 2区医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

International Journal for Equity in Health Pub Date : 2025-03-12 DOI:10.1186/s12939-025-02431-4

Shahina Pardhan, Tarnjit Sehmbi, Rumalie Wijewickrama, Hugo Onumajuru, Mapa Prabhath Piyasena

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Research highlights that participation of ethnic minority individuals in research is low when compared to white counterparts. This poses challenges for healthcare planning and delivery, as lack of representativeness in research means that findings are generalised across all ethnic groups, and do not provide stakeholders with a full picture of how minority populations are affected. This contributes to health inequalities as these populations may then be underserved and not get the best possible management if differences due to ethnicity were to exist. This study synthesises the barriers to engaging minority individuals in research to understand, and enablers to better engagement of different minority communities in healthcare research.

Methods: Five databases were searched (MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Web of Science and EMBASE) up to 29th April 2024, resulting in 897 articles, of which 11 met the inclusion criteria. Data were extracted from reviews and synthesised using qualitative meta-aggregation techniques. The socio-ecological framework was applied to synthesise the main outcomes. A protocol for this review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42024532686).

Results: The main barriers for research participation included: mistrust of healthcare professionals, research and researchers; socioeconomic and logistical challenges; language and cultural barriers; lack of awareness; external influences and perceived bias. Facilitators to support better research participation included: Community engagement and personalised approaches; culturally sensitive research strategies; linguistically appropriate study materials and study advertising; education workshops.

Conclusions: To enable wider participation, it is important to understand not only the barriers but also to employ culturally appropriate facilitators, engaging with patient and public involvement (PPI) groups that communities trust, offer cultural training for researchers, and adopt a more collaborative and transparent way of working. This overview highlights the work that needs to be done on an intrapersonal, interpersonal, community and policy level to make research accessible and inclusive for ethnic minority groups.

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在医疗保健研究中参与代表性不足的少数民族人口的障碍和促进因素：概括性回顾。

背景：研究强调，与白人相比，少数民族个人在研究中的参与度较低。这给医疗保健计划和提供带来了挑战，因为研究缺乏代表性意味着研究结果在所有种族群体中都是通用的，并且不能向利益相关者提供少数民族人口如何受到影响的全貌。这加剧了卫生不平等，因为如果存在种族差异，这些人群可能得不到充分的服务，也得不到最好的管理。本研究综合了让少数群体参与研究的障碍，以理解和促进不同少数群体社区更好地参与医疗保健研究。方法：截至2024年4月29日，检索MEDLINE、CINAHL、PsycINFO、Web of Science和EMBASE 5个数据库，共收录897篇文献，其中11篇符合纳入标准。从综述中提取数据，并使用定性荟萃技术进行综合。应用社会生态框架来综合主要结果。本综述的方案已在PROSPERO注册（CRD42024532686）。结果：参与研究的主要障碍包括：对卫生保健专业人员、研究和研究人员的不信任；社会经济和后勤挑战；语言和文化障碍；缺乏意识；外部影响和感知偏见。促进更好地参与研究的因素包括：社区参与和个性化方法；文化敏感性研究策略；语言上合适的学习材料和学习广告；教育研讨会。结论：为了实现更广泛的参与，重要的是不仅要了解障碍，而且要雇用文化上合适的促进者，与社区信任的患者和公众参与（PPI）团体合作，为研究人员提供文化培训，并采用更具协作性和透明度的工作方式。这一概述强调了需要在个人、人际、社区和政策层面进行的工作，以使少数民族群体的研究可及性和包容性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal for Equity in Health Medicine-Health Policy

CiteScore

7.80

自引率

4.20%

发文量

162

审稿时长

28 weeks

期刊介绍： International Journal for Equity in Health is an Open Access, peer-reviewed, online journal presenting evidence relevant to the search for, and attainment of, equity in health across and within countries. International Journal for Equity in Health aims to improve the understanding of issues that influence the health of populations. This includes the discussion of political, policy-related, economic, social and health services-related influences, particularly with regard to systematic differences in distributions of one or more aspects of health in population groups defined demographically, geographically, or socially.