5 - (SYM 23) Strategies for Inclusion in Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy Trials

Abstract Body
Participants in trials of Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy are more likely to be white, non-Hispanic, and affluent than the populations of the cities and regions where they are conducted. Researchers are working to make trials more inclusive. As a case example, we look at strategies that researchers at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research (CPCR) at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHU SOM) have tried in order to include more Black adults from the local Baltimore community in their studies. Strategies include (a) working with JHU offices whose focus is on fostering community-research connections, (b) collaborating with community groups, (d) designing culturally competent study materials, and (e) revising study procedures to reduce barriers to participation.
 
JHU SOM has several offices dedicated to connecting researchers with the broader community. These include the Community Research Advisory Council, which facilitates consultation between researchers and a group of patients and local community members. Other services include MyChart recruitment services, which enable researchers to send messages to potentially-eligible research participants through the hospital’s electronic medical record system, and organized community engagement events, where research teams can discuss studies directly with local residents.
 
The CPCR’s community engagement committee has begun designing more culturally competent study materials, based on consultations with some of the above offices as well recommendations from the scholarly literature. Perhaps the most effective interventions to date have included adjusting study procedures to make it easier to learn about and participate in our research. For example, historically most studies in our center involved an online pre-screening survey, which participants completed after clicking on a link from our website or a QR code from a flyer. Dispensing with this pre-screener seems to enable more people to access the study. Researchers have found it helpful to have a study phone number that is consistently staffed, as participants may be hard to reach by phone, and responding to questions “live” may help allay participant concerns. Further, it is important to pay for transportation, in addition to compensating participants for their time.
 
We continue to refine these strategies and to learn from our own and others’ experiences and from our community partners.