Partnerships in research, according to Katie, need to be more accessible to diverse populations

Transcript

I think sometimes it’s going to have to be a combination of researchers appreciating the importance of diversity, but also a little bit of a cultural shift. I really don’t like that word, but it does require some education about research and that it’s okay or important for patients and families to get involved in research. I think there are a lot of cultures and age categories that treat healthcare as a very special bubble that they can’t get involved in because, you know, people went to school or a clinician/MDs, you know that kind of thing, are highly regarded and that’s fine. But I don’t know that we do a good job in general of making it accessible. So it’s a combination of understanding where to go to get those populations in your particular field and those populations understanding that we want you, we need you, you can get involved and it won’t affect your care. 

I can understand that some people who are new to Canada may not understand, may feel frightened that if they were to express an opinion that it might affect their care in some way or something like that. So we’ve got a long way to go I think to increasing accessibility of research because it’s been held on a pedestal kind of off over here for highly trained individuals for a long time.

---

Go back