Increasing Diversity in Research Participation

A good practice guide for engaging with underrepresented groups

This guide is designed for researchers from a wide and varied audience.

Its purpose is:

• To help researchers understand why research participation might be low in a group

• To provide meaningful insights into working with groups where participation in research is low

• To provide practical suggestions to increase participation in research.

This work was undertaken in two phases:

1. A review of the available literature, contemporary media and online insights to explore existing understanding and resources

2. Outreach work with six underrepresented groups to understand challenges and enablers to getting involved in research, and to co-develop practical tips to address these

Insights drawn from both phases of work have underpinned the development of this guide, which has been co-developed with the groups in question.

The first half of this guide provides context, background, and insights into the challenges around recruiting a diverse participant base.

The second half outlines practical tips, guidance, and case studies from the underrepresented groups. This guide is relevant to all research professionals but for brevity throughout the guide we refer to the audience as those working in patient and clinical research.

View the good practice guide, here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/aac/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2023/02/B1905-increasing-diversity-in-research-participation-v2.pdf.pdf