Publication
Published on: September 18, 2026
Published in: American Journal of Bioethics
Description: In their commentary published in the American Journal of Bioethics (AJOB) titled “Inclusion Beyond, And Not Limited To, Consent Discussions,” Willyanne DeCormier Plosky and Barbara Bierer advocate for expanding attention to inclusion beyond the informed consent process, such as in the pre-study processes of developing eligibility criteria and study outcome measures, on-study processes such as planning for communication platforms and associated services (e.g., help desks, concomitant software or tools), and post-study processes such as return of results in accessible formats. They also contend that universal design supporting more user-friendly clinical trial components (e.g., ICFs, patient portals) may be more effectively achieved when the preferences and needs for study communication and participation processes are adapted from minoritized populations to apply to studies involving majority populations rather than using the default “reasonable person” to adapt clinical trial components to anyone other than that default “reasonable person.”
DeCormier Plosky, W., & Bierer, B. E. (2026). Inclusion Beyond, And Not Limited To, Consent Discussions. The American Journal of Bioethics, 26(10), 42–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2026.2717109