Month: August 2024

Finding Success and Belonging at the SOCRA Annual Conference: A First Time Attendee’s Experience 

Holly Crandall

BSN, RN, CCRP

Indiana University School of Medicine

This time last year, I was unsure if traveling to Montreal for the SOCRA Annual Conference would be a worthwhile investment in my career. As a research nurse, I’ve attended several conferences specific to my clinical field, which provided valuable knowledge about the disease states I work with. However, the SOCRA Annual Conference was different. It offered new tools and ways of thinking about my daily work. Entering a poster into the Poster Program also gave me a greater sense of involvement. I left energized by the passion of the other participants and excited for this year’s conference in Las Vegas. 

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Strategies to Promote Inclusion and Decrease Language Barriers in Spanish Speaking Participants

Ariana Berrios, EMT, Thomas Jefferson University

Picture of Emily Navarreto, BS, Thomas Jefferson University.

Emily Navarreto, BS

Thomas Jefferson University

Picture of Nancy A. Wintering, LCSW, CCRP, Thomas Jefferson University.

Nancy A. Wintering, LCSW, CCRP

Thomas Jefferson University

Abstract: This paper was developed from our discussions about inclusion of non-English speakers in clinical research. We presented a poster on this topic at the 2022 SOCRA Annual Conference. We believe that Spanish-speaking individuals are often excluded from clinical research studies because of language barriers. While some language services have been established for clinical use, those services are often unavailable and are generally not standardized for clinical research purposes. This paper calls attention to current language barriers and provides an overview of the shortcomings of Spanish language services in clinical research. The authors propose strategies to promote research that is inclusive of Spanish-speaking participants. While the emphasis of this paper is focused on improving inclusion of Spanish-speaking participants in clinical research; the solutions we propose could be applied to other participants whose first language is not English.

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