Abstract 4840: Creating a culturally sensitive manual to increase clinical trial participation among African Americans and African Nationals

Abstract Background: Racial and ethnic minorities are immensely underrepresented in clinical trial studies in the United States. Black/African Americans, Latinos/as, Asians, American Indians, and Pacific Islanders make up roughly 30% of all clinical trials (CT) participation across all race groups. Being inclusive of all populations in CT ensures that everyone has access to modern medicines and treatments, but also, that these latest treatments work and react well to all people. Methods: We developed a manual on clinical trials with a target focus to African Americans and African Nationals. We hosted two focus groups with Blacks/African Americans in which we found they are more comfortable getting cancer related information through trusted community services, such as coming from churches. We have connected with over 80 Pastors who agreed to collaborate in clinical trials education. Results: Through outreach and engagement to African American churches in Los Angeles County, we have distributed a copy of this clinical trials educational manual to 90 churches to be disseminated during their services. Our office of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) regularly attend community health and resource events and provide hard copies of the clinical trials manual at tables/booths designated for our participation. We have attended 50 community events and have disseminated about 1, 900 copies of the CT manual so far this year 2023. This manual is also available for free download on our cancer center’s website, in which over 100 toolkits have been downloaded within the last year. Conclusions: By creating a culturally sensitive and adapted educational manual and partnering with trusted services in the community such as faith-based organizations, we can begin to break down barriers to clinical trials participation among all race and ethnic minority groups. Citation Format: Carolina Aristizabal, Eduardo Ibarra, Lourdes A. Baezconde-Garbanati. Creating a culturally sensitive manual to increase clinical trial participation among African Americans and African Nationals abstract. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts) ; 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84 (6Suppl): Abstract nr 4840.