Description: Learn about the Accessibility by Design (AbD) in Clinical Research Toolkit, developed by the MRCT Center in collaboration with people with disabilities, caregivers, allies, disability rights advocates, and stakeholders working in clinical research.
We present the background, structure, and key themes of the AbD Toolkit. Invited speakers then discuss their experiences as participants, caregivers, and leaders in clinical research and how the AbD Toolkit may be utilized to facilitate change.
The MRCT Center has developed a set of practical diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) tools for IRBs and HRPPs, designed to improve the involvement of underrepresented populations in clinical research. In 2021, a task force of 28 IRB and HRPP professionals, convened by the MRCT Center, created 15 DEI tools. The tools underwent rigorous review and revision during nine months of monthly meetings and additional correspondence.
Three highlighted tools in the poster include:
Checklist of Logistical and Procedural Considerations: Assists in lowering barriers to inclusion, covering Pre-Study, On-Study, and Post-Study Considerations.
HRPP Planning Strategy to Address DEI: Offers a plan involving support, key stakeholders, guidance utilization, and process evaluation.
Incorporation of Diversity and Inclusion into Clinical Research Protocol Templates: Provides DEI recommendations within protocols, along with annotated examples.
Hayat Ahmed, MS, Program Manager at the MRCT, showcased this poster at the Annual AAHRPP conference in May 2023. Conference participants awarded Ms. Ahmed the distinguished poster prize.
The Accessibility by Design (AbD) in Clinical Research Toolkit is now available here. The AbD toolkit was developed with people with disabilities, caregivers, allies, disability rights advocates, and stakeholders in clinical research.
On May 4th, the MRCT Center held a webinar in which Dr. Willyanne DeCormier Plosky presented the background, structure, and key themes of the AbD Toolkit. Invited speaker Cecile González-Cerimele shared lessons learned as a family caregiver during clinical trials, a leader in the planning and conducting of clinical research, and a member of the EnAble employee resource group at Eli Lilly. Duke Morrow could not attend but shared, via moderator Dr. Barbara Bierer, his lived experience as a person with a disability, trial participant, and [community] IRB member. “Any researcher must put aside any knowledge they have learned academically and accept the lived experience of the participants.”
The MRCT Center welcomes your feedback on the AbD Toolkit. Please send suggestions, additional tools and resources, and concerns to mrct@bwh.harvard.edu. We look forward to continuing to work together with people with disabilities, their allies, study teams, sites, and sponsors to further the inclusion of people with disabilities in clinical research.
