132 Annual Meeting Logo - Go to APHA Meeting Page  
APHA Logo - Go to APHA Home Page

African american trust or mistrust of biomedical research: An intergenerational perspective

Gloria C. Ramsey, RN, JD and Evelyn Nelson, DMD, MPH. Division of Nursing, New York University, 246 Greene Street, New York, NY 10003, 212-998-5356, gloria.ramsey@nyu.edu

Purpose To explore the African Americans attitudes towards past and present participation in biomedical research and their willingness to “sign up” as a subject in future biomedical research studies.

Rational/Significance The challenge for American health care providers today is that there is an established history of distrust between providers and African American patients. African Americans know of this country’s legacy of illegal experimentation.

Sample Individuals (n=32) from a large metropolitan religious institution and affiliated community health center, both located in the State of New York, participated in one of four focus groups to explore the questions raised. Using a snowball sampling method, individuals of mixed gender in two groups: older (60 and older) and younger (21-40), and individuals who were homogenous in terms of age, class and race participated.

Data Collection/Analysis & Implications for Practice Focus groups were audio taped, transcribed and coded for interpretation. Through the qualitative analysis of data results, we gain insight as to: 1) African Americans stand today on the issue of biomedical research; 2) what African Americans think about biomedical research in response to the public apology that President Clinton made on behalf of the American Government to survivors of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment and to Americans at-large.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: African American, Bioethics

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Research and the Public Interest

The 132nd Annual Meeting (November 6-10, 2004) of APHA