Guiding Framework

5 Ws of Racial Equity in Research Framework

The work of EIR is guided by The 5Ws of Racial Equity in Research: A Framework for Applying a Racial Equity Lens Throughout the Research Process. The 5Ws of Racial Equity in Research framework employs the septem circumstantiae, or Who, What, When, Where, and Why, to offer clear and relatable guidance (the how) for fostering racial equity in research methodologies and within the research community, serving as a guiding framework.
 

5Ws of Racial Equity in Research Framework; Who benefits? Whoi is harmed? Who is excluded?Who makes decisions? Who do systems prioritize? Who is made comfortable? Who is cited? Who is called an expert? Who can lead research?; Why is this project relevant? Why use this approach? Why should someone want to be involved? Why this research topic? Why this group of interest? Why you? Why not you?; When did it become a priority? When do research activities occur? When is waiting acceptable, and for whom? What resources? What is the access? What values are prioritized? What languages are excluded? What are the accommodations? What variables are used or excluded? Where does power sit? Where do you have to go? Where are resources shared? Where are findings shared? Where is this research going? Where does the money go?

5Ts Framework

A tool to facilitate inclusion of special populations in clinical research.

The 5Ts Framework was developed with support from the Duke CTSI Integrating Special Populations Core and Duke Pepper Center to help research teams maximize recruitment and retention of older adults in research. The 5Ts website provides practical advice for designing and conducting inclusive research studies. Research teams can search for timely and helpful recommendations that are relevant to their study, download resources for their study team to use, or contact us to receive 5Ts updates and news. 

5Ts Publications

5Ts Framework graphic

The 5Ts Framework for inclusion of older adults and other special populations in clinical research:

  • Target Population

  • Team

  • Time

  • Tips to Accommodate

  • Tools

Expanding the 5Ts to Other Populations

Although the 5Ts framework was designed to facilitate the inclusion of older adults in clinical research, the ISP Core has recognized and will promote its relevance as a tool to facilitate inclusion of multiple special populations. 

We have expanded the 5Ts recommendations to African-American and Latinx populations across the lifespan, pediatrics, and rare diseases and worked with CTSI's Community Engaged Research Initiative (CERI) to conduct community consultation studios (CCS) with participants from some of these demographic groups and with research coordinators who have successfully recruited and retained these populations for clinical research studies.

Using the 5Ts, we generated recommendations on how to increase enrollment of these special population participants in clinical research from the feedback we received from these CCS. We plan to expand the 5Ts website to help investigators include other special populations in clinical research. The ISP team is seeking additional grant funding to inform expansion of recommendations gathered from our previous CCS in this new project entitled, "Special Populations Inclusion Recruitment Tool (SPIRiT): A planning tool for recruitment of special populations in clinical research."