Improving Hawaiian and Filipino involvement in clinical research opportunities: qualitative findings from Hawai'i.

OBJECTIVE Investigate the barriers to participation in medical research that involves Asian and Pacific Islander (API) populations in Hawai'i. PARTICIPANTS Fifty people (27 Filipinos, 23 Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders) in five different communities on Oahu. DESIGN Nine focus groups with an ethnically matched moderator were held to explore people's feelings, problems, and recommendations regarding medical research. Sessions were audiotaped, transcribed, and qualitatively analyzed with the constant comparison method. RESULTS Only 12% of study participants said that they absolutely would not participate in a clinical study. Most agreed that research is vital. Filipino participants were more optimistic about the safety and value of joining in medical research. Hawaiian groups were more hesitant and fearful. Reasons for nonparticipation included negative feelings about the purpose and intent of clinical trials and language and cultural barriers. Suggestions on how to encourage API populations to participate in research investigations included improving peoples' understanding of the benefits to family and community. Hawaiian and Filipino groups differed only slightly in their assessments of the type of research needed in their communities. CONCLUSIONS Recruitment campaigns must improve people's awareness of the process of informed consent, research safeguards, and benefits to family and community. Attention should focus on K-12 health education to use members of the younger generations to access and educate elders, involving persons with medical research experience as a recruitment resource, returning results to study participants, and increasing the number of healthcare professionals and researchers that are culturally and linguistically matched to the community.