Project TRES: Background

In 2000, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) required that investigators and key personnel receive training in basic ethical and responsible human subjects research. Training programs developed in response to this mandate generally targeted the biomedical community and consisted of basic information about research ethics (informed consent, risk-benefit analysis, confidentiality procedures). Researchers conducting community-based research with Latinos that involved Latino community members as part of the research team, faced the challenge of wanting to comply with training requirements, yet not finding any training resources that provided appropriate information for Spanish-speaking staff on how to ethically and responsibly carry out the research study. Project TRES has addressed this gap by providing a unique training tool that includes culturally relevant case examples to facilitate ethical decision making and responsible research conduct for community-based research.

Funding by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research addressing health disparities has continued to increase over the past several years. Much of this research is community-based and has utilized the model that includes Community Health Workers (CHWs/Promotores) to carry out critical aspects of the research study. While this model is effective, it also presents unique ethical challenges that may influence how the research is conducted. Training the CHWs/Promotores using culturally relevant training materials to address the ethical challenges of conducting community-based research is essential. Project TRES provides CHWs/Promotores with information about their responsibilities in conducting research and appropriate ways to address common ethical issues that may occur when assisting with research.