Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan-Feb;17(1):15579883221147767.
doi: 10.1177/15579883221147767.

Virtual Community Engagement for Retention of Black Men in Clinical Research

Timiya S Nolan  1   2 , Alicia McKoy  3 , Darrell M Gray 2nd  4 , Faith Metlock  5 , Sarah Addison  6 , Stephanie S Ogonuwe  7 , John Gregory  8 , Dana Lavender  8 , Luiza Reopell  6 , Joshua J Joseph  6   9
Affiliations

Virtual Community Engagement for Retention of Black Men in Clinical Research

Timiya S Nolan et al. Am J Mens Health. 2023 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

Black American men have worse cardiovascular health compared with their White counterparts, yet are highly underrepresented in clinical trials. In 2020, Black men were recruited to participate in Black Impact, a community-based lifestyle intervention to increase cardiovascular health. Due to the research pause during the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, a virtual community engagement (VCE) process was co-designed with community stakeholders and evaluated for its effect on retention for the clinical trial. VCE via weekly virtual video conference sessions occurred for 9 weeks as a run-in phase prior to in-person research activities. Data collected during sessions included attendance, anecdotes on acceptability, and topical requests for subsequent weeks. Content analysis was performed on scribe notes from sessions to ascertain themes describing the implementation and participant perceptions of the VCE. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze quantitative data. The VCE provided opportunities to co-create a safe atmosphere in small groups, discuss mental health, foster trust, capitalize on the power of spirituality, and establish a brotherhood. Following the VCE run-in phase, 74 of 100 participants remained engaged for participation in the Black Impact study. The VCE described provides a framework that can be used to retain Black men during study delays or disruptions through fostering engagement and building community among participants and researchers.

Keywords: Black men; clinical trial participation; community engagement; retention; virtual.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Virtual Community Engagement Note. This figure is a depiction of the components of virtual community engagement that led to retention of 74 of 100 Black men who consented to take part in the parent study, BI program. BI = Black Impact.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Arias E., Tejada-Vera B., Ahmad F., Kochanek K. D. (2021). Provisional life expectancy estimates for 2020 (Vital Statistics Rapid Release, No. 15). 10.15620/cdc:107201 - DOI
    1. Brewer L. C., Pasha M., Seele P., Penheiter S., White R., Willis F., Albertie M., Jenkins S. M., Pullins C. (2021). Overcoming historical barriers: Enhancing positive perceptions of medical research among African Americans through a conference-based workshop. Journal of General Internal Medicine., 36(9), 2547–2554 10.1007/s11606-021-06736-2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brooks D., Douglas M., Aggarwal N., Prabhakaran S., Holden K., Mack D. (2017). Developing a framework for integrating health equity into the learning health system. Learning Health Systems, 1, Article e10029. 10.1002/lrh2.10029 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Carnethon M. R., Pu J., Howard G., Albert M. A., Anderson C. A., Bertoni A. G., Mujahid M. S., Palaniappan L., Taylor H. A., Jr, Willis M., Yancy C. W. (2017). Cardiovascular health in African Americans: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 136(21), e393–e423.10.1161/cir.0000000000000534 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Clark L. T., Watkins L., Piña I. L., Elmer M., Akinboboye O., Gorham M., Jamerson B., McCullough C., Pierre C., Polis A. B., Puckrein G., Regnante J. M. (2019). Increasing diversity in clinical trials: Overcoming critical barriers. Current Problems in Cardiology, 44(5), 148–172. 10.1016/j.cpcardiol.2018.11.002 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types