Skip to Main Content

The Colors of COVID-19: Addressing Health Disparities During a Global Pandemic

September 18, 2020

September 16, 2020

ID
5643

Transcript

  • 00:00Thank you very much for joining us
  • 00:02this evening for what I am quite
  • 00:04sure is going to be a terrific talk
  • 00:06and then conversation afterwards.
  • 00:08This is the kickoff session for
  • 00:10the program for Biomedical Ethics
  • 00:12Evening Ethics Seminar series here
  • 00:13at the Yale School of Medicine,
  • 00:15and we have sessions once or twice a
  • 00:18month throughout the academic year,
  • 00:19and you can actually see at
  • 00:21the bottom of this slide.
  • 00:23You can see the next few
  • 00:25talks that are coming up.
  • 00:26We have saving Hildebrandt from Harvard.
  • 00:28We have Trish apprentice from Melbourne.
  • 00:30And then amorous Kaiser from Johns
  • 00:32Hopkins as our first three talks.
  • 00:34And I think the one after that
  • 00:36is going to be Peter singer,
  • 00:38who was going to be a broadcasting
  • 00:40to us from Australia.
  • 00:42Also,
  • 00:42we've got a tremendous lineup for the year.
  • 00:44Were delighted that you're here.
  • 00:46Please join us for as many
  • 00:48as your time and interests.
  • 00:49Allow the way these sessions work
  • 00:51is we have about a 45 minute talk
  • 00:54by a visiting faculty member,
  • 00:56followed by a 45 minute conversation.
  • 00:57I'm going to invite you to
  • 00:59send questions via chat.
  • 01:01And then I will share the questions
  • 01:03with Professor Thomas after his talk is
  • 01:05over and how moderate the conversations.
  • 01:07That way we do have a hard stop at 6:30.
  • 01:10So if you're wondering,
  • 01:11when do you get out?
  • 01:12It will stop at 6:30, so let me
  • 01:15apologize now to whoever had father.
  • 01:16Great question at 629 'cause
  • 01:18I probably won't get to it.
  • 01:20I'm sure I won't get to all of
  • 01:22your questions,
  • 01:23but it should be a great night.
  • 01:25Thanks for being here and I'm a night
  • 01:27now to introduce our honored guests.
  • 01:29Stephen Thomas, PhD,
  • 01:30is professor of health policy and management.
  • 01:32And the director of the Maryland Center
  • 01:35for HealthEquity at the school of
  • 01:37public health at the University of Maryland,
  • 01:39College Park.
  • 01:40Doctor Thomas is one of the nation's
  • 01:42leading scholars on community
  • 01:44engaged research designed to reduce
  • 01:46and ultimately eliminate racial
  • 01:47and ethnic health disparities.
  • 01:49He completed his undergraduate
  • 01:51degree at Ohio State University.
  • 01:53Excuse me.
  • 01:53V Ohio State University and his PhD from
  • 01:56southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
  • 01:59Doctor Thomas has also earn certificates
  • 02:01in bioethics from Georgetown University and
  • 02:03the University of Washington in Seattle.
  • 02:05He's a principal investigator of the NIH
  • 02:08and I am HD center of excellence on race,
  • 02:11ethnicity,
  • 02:12and health disparities research.
  • 02:13His research and collaborator doctor
  • 02:15doctor Sandra Quinn is recognized as
  • 02:17one of the scholarly contributions.
  • 02:19Excuse me,
  • 02:19his research with doctor Quinn
  • 02:21is recognized as one of the solid
  • 02:24contributions that led to the
  • 02:251997 presidential apology for the
  • 02:27syphilis study done at Tuskegee.
  • 02:29I think many, perhaps most,
  • 02:31people on this call on remember that time,
  • 02:34and I didn't realize until.
  • 02:36Until this that doctor Thomas
  • 02:38was instrumental in that.
  • 02:39Doctor Thomas believes that building
  • 02:41bridges of trust are essential
  • 02:43to creating healthy communities.
  • 02:45In this talk he will discuss
  • 02:46how the principle of
  • 02:48Justice can help illuminate the
  • 02:50implications for recruitment and
  • 02:52retention of black human subjects in
  • 02:54COVID-19 clinical trials research.
  • 02:56The talk is the colors of COVID-19
  • 02:59addressing health disparities
  • 03:00during a global pandemic.
  • 03:01Our guest is Professor Stephen Thomas
  • 03:04and thank you so much for doing this.
  • 03:07Forest doctor Thomas an welcome to Yale.
  • 03:09It's an
  • 03:10honor and a pleasure to be here.
  • 03:12I actually was going through my emails
  • 03:15searching for something and I put in
  • 03:18the word Yale and believe it or not,
  • 03:20I've been to your campus a couple times.
  • 03:22I want to commend the work that's
  • 03:25being done there around training
  • 03:27the next generation of scholars.
  • 03:29And I think that this form itself
  • 03:32and the prestige of your institution
  • 03:35hopefully can help move the needle.
  • 03:38I'm in a moment here.
  • 03:40I'm going to share my slides,
  • 03:42but as you can see with
  • 03:44this virtual background,
  • 03:45I have a rainbow over my head every
  • 03:47single day seems to bring bad news,
  • 03:50but at the end of the day I do
  • 03:53believe we will do the right thing.
  • 03:56And so I do have hope even in the
  • 03:59midst of what we're going through,
  • 04:03I'm reminded reminded that
  • 04:05sunshine does follow the rain.
  • 04:08I hope we have a robust conversation
  • 04:11and honest conversation.
  • 04:13A Frank Conversation.
  • 04:14This is no time to be anything
  • 04:18but authentic people are dying
  • 04:21an it is about saving lives.
  • 04:24I had Could never have imagined that
  • 04:27the United States would be in such bad
  • 04:30shape as it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • 04:34An early in the process when
  • 04:36discussions were being made about
  • 04:38the underlying conditions,
  • 04:40you know the diabetes heart
  • 04:42disease of the asthma,
  • 04:43the list goes on,
  • 04:45and they are all part of the
  • 04:47health disparities that we have
  • 04:50known so well and document it.
  • 04:53Anne,
  • 04:53yet in the early days of the pandemic,
  • 04:57this data was not presented with
  • 05:00racial demographics or zip codes.
  • 05:03New York Times did a major story on
  • 05:06the racial breakdown of covid cases,
  • 05:08and to get the data they had to actually
  • 05:11file a lawsuit against Central Disease
  • 05:14Control to have access to the data.
  • 05:17So even as we speak right now,
  • 05:20it is not universal that we're getting the
  • 05:22data by all the demographic characteristics,
  • 05:25so I'm going to take a chance
  • 05:27here and hit a few buttons.
  • 05:30Everybody out there in cyberspace.
  • 05:32Please cross your fingers.
  • 05:34I'm gonna share my screen an
  • 05:38hope that all of this works.
  • 05:42And. If you see an image.
  • 05:47Full screen there we go.
  • 05:50An I'm reminded every semester and we're
  • 05:53in our second week of school here.
  • 05:55Actually,
  • 05:55the beginning of our third week,
  • 05:57but our first week in a blended
  • 06:00with in person.
  • 06:01But every year I'm reminded that the
  • 06:04freshman class is always the same age,
  • 06:06and I'm the one that's older and
  • 06:09I've realized overtime that some
  • 06:11don't know who this is in this image.
  • 06:14And this was actually.
  • 06:16Produced by a young undergraduate
  • 06:18student when we were celebrating the
  • 06:21anniversary of the March on Washington.
  • 06:25And I've kept it in my slide deck ever since.
  • 06:28And it's this that realization that
  • 06:29if you grew up in another country,
  • 06:32you may not be familiar with the history
  • 06:34of civil rights in the United States.
  • 06:36And even if you grew up in this country.
  • 06:40You may not be familiar with it,
  • 06:42and I think it's very important that
  • 06:44we keep in front of us how we have
  • 06:47made social change in this country
  • 06:49and it is movements like the civil
  • 06:51rights movement that is vital for
  • 06:53the lessons we need right now.
  • 06:55You may not agree with everything
  • 06:58you're about to hear today,
  • 07:00so it is about a conversation.
  • 07:02There's my email address and I'm hoping
  • 07:05that this is the beginning and not an end.
  • 07:09So, um. My commercial here.
  • 07:13As I mentioned,
  • 07:14I'm the director of the Mail in Center for
  • 07:19HealthEquity joined the faculty in 2010,
  • 07:22so it's This is actually our
  • 07:2510 year anniversary.
  • 07:27And in fact,
  • 07:28there were five members of my
  • 07:30research team where we were at the
  • 07:33University of Pittsburgh and all
  • 07:35five of us were recruited for one of
  • 07:38the largest cluster hires in history
  • 07:40of the University of Maryland.
  • 07:42As part of the school public health.
  • 07:44The images you see around this slide
  • 07:46are the examples of the community
  • 07:48engaged research infrastructure
  • 07:50we have built,
  • 07:51and I'll talk about in this
  • 07:53theme of building bridges,
  • 07:55building trust,
  • 07:55building healthy communities is when
  • 07:57I'll come back to time and time again.
  • 08:00It is unfortunate,
  • 08:01but true that if you were to draw
  • 08:04a 2 mile radius around many of our
  • 08:06academic Health Science Center,
  • 08:08some of the most prestigious
  • 08:10academic Health Science centers,
  • 08:12you'd find some of the worst
  • 08:14health statistics in the region.
  • 08:16How how can that be?
  • 08:18How can it be that you can
  • 08:20live in the shadow?
  • 08:21Of a medical wonder world.
  • 08:24And still die before your time.
  • 08:27That's why we do health disparity research.
  • 08:30And in our center we do that
  • 08:34from a philosophical foundation
  • 08:36rooted in social justice.
  • 08:39And I think for my students I
  • 08:41have to point this out that
  • 08:44social justice is not a slur is
  • 08:46not something to be ashamed of.
  • 08:49Social justice is the moral
  • 08:51foundation of public health.
  • 08:52The moral impulses that
  • 08:54animate public health.
  • 08:56Are to improve human well being by
  • 08:58improving health and to focus on the needs
  • 09:01of those who are most disadvantage to
  • 09:03stay right there to focus on the needs.
  • 09:06Of the most disadvantage,
  • 09:10that's our moral commitment.
  • 09:13Um,
  • 09:13this is a matter of disclosure and
  • 09:16and some other things will talk about,
  • 09:18but I am on the IR be of the
  • 09:22all of us program which is.
  • 09:24The NIH initiative to enroll 1 million
  • 09:27people in a database for ongoing research.
  • 09:30I'm sure all of you know about
  • 09:32all of essence.
  • 09:33Maybe we have some all of us
  • 09:36researchers there in the audience.
  • 09:38So don't be mad at me at.
  • 09:41You sent something in your protocols
  • 09:43in in the IR be sent it back.
  • 09:46It is our job to protect the human subjects.
  • 09:50Also want to point out that
  • 09:52there's a theme issue.
  • 09:54The International Journal of
  • 09:56Environmental Research and public
  • 09:58health would be serving as the guest
  • 10:01editor and we're really interested
  • 10:03in commentaries, theoretical pieces,
  • 10:05a thought pieces re framing,
  • 10:07pieces of scholarship, and I would really,
  • 10:10really encourage anyone out there who
  • 10:13has work that they want to to share
  • 10:17to consider submitting to Journal.
  • 10:19And let me bring you greetings from
  • 10:22our new president of all the photos.
  • 10:24I could have showed you I picked this
  • 10:27one as the school opened this is how
  • 10:30they're portraying our new president and.
  • 10:33I should say is the first African American
  • 10:35President, University of Maryland.
  • 10:37And this is an image that I think is quite.
  • 10:43Illustrative of what he's facing
  • 10:45at not much of a honeymoon.
  • 10:47When you, when you become president
  • 10:49at a time of a global pandemic.
  • 10:52And so that doctor Darryl Pines,
  • 10:55who was formerly the Dean of
  • 10:58our school of Engineering,
  • 11:00is now our new president.
  • 11:03And I want to thank doctor
  • 11:04markosian preparing for this.
  • 11:06We talked about what would it be
  • 11:08success in doing this kind of a session
  • 11:10then here's what he said to me.
  • 11:13That you know less entertainment
  • 11:15and more enlightenment.
  • 11:17To open up important discussions
  • 11:19about complex, difficult,
  • 11:20ethical questions of problems of racism
  • 11:23in healthcare that is guidance he
  • 11:25gave me and I'm taking that guidance.
  • 11:28So I'm going to ask all of you to buckle
  • 11:32your seatbelts because this is what I faced.
  • 11:36In the you know.
  • 11:38Mass media.
  • 11:40In the upper left you'll see a flyer
  • 11:42that talks about Kovid as a hoax
  • 11:45that says do not take the test and
  • 11:47do not take the vaccine that was
  • 11:49sent to me by one of our one of our.
  • 11:53Barbers in our barbershop Health Network.
  • 11:56And I'll talk a little bit more
  • 11:59about that later,
  • 12:00but this was back in late February and March.
  • 12:04This kind of information was being
  • 12:06circulated in the black communities
  • 12:08and and there were really no
  • 12:10countermeasures this this has been
  • 12:13seeding these neighborhoods for months,
  • 12:15and now we're trying to get ready
  • 12:17to go in with recruitment for
  • 12:20COVID-19 vaccine trials.
  • 12:22Now we're trying to ensure that
  • 12:25people have their flu vaccine,
  • 12:28and health professionals may not
  • 12:30be aware of the extent to which
  • 12:34that environment has been polluted
  • 12:38with misinformation.
  • 12:39And some of this misinformation and dis
  • 12:43information coming from state actors
  • 12:46specifically focused on causing confusion.
  • 12:50But we're causing our own confusion.
  • 12:52As you can see with that
  • 12:54Roger stone piece up top,
  • 12:56see Deanna interfering with
  • 12:57important CDC reports and then
  • 12:59HHS official has to apologize,
  • 13:01calling scientists.
  • 13:02Sedition I mean,
  • 13:04have you ever seen anything like this
  • 13:06in your careers and that doctor Anthony
  • 13:09Fouchy would have to have security?
  • 13:12I just pulled this one.
  • 13:14He's had to have now security
  • 13:17for his children and his family.
  • 13:20I have never seen in our country.
  • 13:23Our public health officials
  • 13:26are scientists being a.
  • 13:28Undermined And undermine from some of
  • 13:31the hyest political offices in the land,
  • 13:34and as a result,
  • 13:35This is why we look this way.
  • 13:38This is why the curve looks
  • 13:40as we were in
  • 13:41such a mess. Such disarray with this slide
  • 13:44shows you is that guess what we actually do?
  • 13:47Know how to flatten the
  • 13:49curve and keep it down.
  • 13:51But The reason that we have not as complex.
  • 13:57And whether you agree or disagree with
  • 14:00single payer healthcare as the countries,
  • 14:02the United Kingdom and Canada and
  • 14:04France and Australia and Italy?
  • 14:06OK, you see where they are and you
  • 14:09can see where we are unacceptable.
  • 14:12There may be many, many reasons for that gap,
  • 14:15but one of those reasons definitely has
  • 14:18to do with who has access to healthcare
  • 14:22without regardless of ability to pay.
  • 14:24Covid has exposed.
  • 14:26The deferred maintenance of our
  • 14:29public health infrastructure.
  • 14:32And it has exposed the any qualities
  • 14:34and our health care delivery system.
  • 14:37And so along the way,
  • 14:39I want to make sure that we we,
  • 14:42we, we balanced our our critiques.
  • 14:44There's tons of literature on minority
  • 14:46communities and why they don't trust
  • 14:49and how they're hard to reach.
  • 14:51We need to do more looking in
  • 14:53the mirror at ourselves.
  • 14:55What is it about our institutions?
  • 14:57What is it about the way we're organized?
  • 15:00What is it about the way we actually
  • 15:02train our health professionals in
  • 15:04our researchers that results in the.
  • 15:07Very, very bad outcomes,
  • 15:09but the data presents,
  • 15:11and that's the backdrop.
  • 15:13That's the context that we want black
  • 15:17people to get in a vaccine trial.
  • 15:20Now look here.
  • 15:21This look at the headline,
  • 15:23but look at the pull out the
  • 15:26impact of medication can differ.
  • 15:28Depending on a group's genetic makeup
  • 15:30now I hope I have some geneticists
  • 15:32out there in this audience,
  • 15:35'cause we've been telling people that.
  • 15:37We're all the same and at the level of,
  • 15:41you know,
  • 15:42even at that race is a social construction
  • 15:46that is not biological and that we
  • 15:48are the same and yet look at this.
  • 15:52We differ by genetic makeup and
  • 15:54that can determine what medication
  • 15:56you get that's huge.
  • 15:58It's a huge breakthrough in
  • 16:01terms of precision medicine,
  • 16:03but it's also huge mountain
  • 16:06conceptual Mount and for laypeople
  • 16:08to climb to overcome what they had
  • 16:11been told that we are one people,
  • 16:15one race, the human race.
  • 16:18And even with that, yes,
  • 16:20there is evidence of success.
  • 16:23And while this one person marks
  • 16:25Bradley 66 join the trial,
  • 16:27it was so monumental he ends up ends up
  • 16:30on the front page of the Washington Post.
  • 16:33So while yes, there are some success,
  • 16:36it's so rare that when it happens,
  • 16:39you end up on the front page of
  • 16:42the newspaper.
  • 16:43He's also willing to talk about it.
  • 16:45He's also highly educated.
  • 16:47He's middle class out with a
  • 16:49with an advanced degree,
  • 16:51and so my point is.
  • 16:53That's good, he sought out.
  • 16:54How do I get into trial?
  • 16:57The challenge we have are those who are
  • 17:00not actively seeking to be in the trial.
  • 17:03The challenge we have are those
  • 17:06who may resist and be hesitant.
  • 17:08That's our challenge and
  • 17:09that is our opportunity,
  • 17:11so it's in that context that
  • 17:13I think that history matters.
  • 17:15We've we've talked a lot about.
  • 17:18In fact, we've been seeing this
  • 17:20reckoning racial reckoning in
  • 17:21the country with the Confederate
  • 17:23statues and things being taken down.
  • 17:26But I don't know how. How much?
  • 17:29Awareness your audience
  • 17:31has doctor more cozy about.
  • 17:35The reckoning in medicine and public health.
  • 17:39On the left I'm showing you a story
  • 17:41because it was my former institution of
  • 17:43the University of Pittsburgh where I
  • 17:45was on the faculty from 2000, two 1010.
  • 17:47That building there was called Parent Hall.
  • 17:51A Thomas parent was a surgeon
  • 17:53general of the United States,
  • 17:54and he was a founding Dean of the
  • 17:56Graduate School of Public Health,
  • 17:58University, Pittsburgh.
  • 17:59Maybe we have some pit alarm
  • 18:01out there in your audience.
  • 18:03Well, what's interesting here is that
  • 18:05Thomas Perrin was surgeon general during
  • 18:08the time of the Tuskegee syphilis study.
  • 18:11An over the years.
  • 18:13As graduate students and others became
  • 18:16aware of this legacy and this history.
  • 18:20A Long story short,
  • 18:21you see the results.
  • 18:22The Board of Trustees voted to remove the
  • 18:25name of Thomas parent from the building.
  • 18:28That didn't come from enlightened
  • 18:31administrative leadership.
  • 18:33That came from struggle that came from
  • 18:36demonstration that came from a people,
  • 18:38particularly students rising up
  • 18:39saying they did not want a degree
  • 18:42from a school that was named after
  • 18:45someone who played a role in
  • 18:47leading the Tuskegee syphilis study
  • 18:49block there on the right.
  • 18:51The father of gynecology
  • 18:53who experimented on slaves.
  • 18:54There was a statue to him.
  • 18:58And it came down that statue came now.
  • 19:02There is a reckoning in
  • 19:04medicine and public health.
  • 19:06What reckoning is occurring on your campus?
  • 19:12And if you think all those things are in
  • 19:16the past, those things are all behind us.
  • 19:20Just look at the news and here we
  • 19:22have a whistleblower complaint about
  • 19:24unwanted hysterectomies among migrant
  • 19:27women in ice detention centers.
  • 19:30I can't believe or even talking this way.
  • 19:34In the United States of America.
  • 19:35So if you think these things are
  • 19:37in the past, you're wrong.
  • 19:39And I guess one of my questions
  • 19:42when we get to the discussion is.
  • 19:45What role do we have to play?
  • 19:48What responsibility do we have?
  • 19:50When our peers are peer medical
  • 19:54professionals working an ice
  • 19:56detention facilities are caught up.
  • 19:59And participating.
  • 20:00In this kind of behavior,
  • 20:03what role do we have?
  • 20:05To check ourselves. No.
  • 20:09The Tuskegee suffer study comes
  • 20:11up again and again because.
  • 20:14In many ways.
  • 20:15It's one of you can get your arms around it.
  • 20:20This little town and make in Alabama.
  • 20:23Macon County, Alabama.
  • 20:25How is it that a story out of Macon County,
  • 20:30Alabama?
  • 20:30Tuskegee ends up being.
  • 20:33A bellwether for bioethics.
  • 20:36Let's remind ourselves that this
  • 20:39was a study directed by the public
  • 20:42health service from 1932 to 1972.
  • 20:45And it is described as arguably the
  • 20:47most infamous bio medical research
  • 20:49that in the history of Medicine.
  • 20:51But what I want you to notice
  • 20:53here in this photo as the position
  • 20:55white position there is drawing
  • 20:57blood from one of the participants.
  • 21:00That position is not in a clinic.
  • 21:03That position is not in a hospital.
  • 21:06He's in a planned.
  • 21:08He's out on a plantation in the fields.
  • 21:11He's got his lab equipment,
  • 21:13his blood draw equipment in
  • 21:15the back of his car.
  • 21:18They went to where the people were.
  • 21:20They met them in the fields.
  • 21:23They. Built.
  • 21:26Trust.
  • 21:27Not this position necessarily,
  • 21:30but the nurse who ran daily
  • 21:32day and kept them in together.
  • 21:35Her name was Eunice Rivers.
  • 21:36Do you know how hard it is to keep a cohort?
  • 21:41204 hundred plus men together for 40 years.
  • 21:47We got a tip our hat to her will talk about
  • 21:50the complexity of the role she played,
  • 21:53but Eunice Rivers and the role she
  • 21:56played in the outreach recruitment.
  • 21:58The maintenance of crust,
  • 22:00the relationship,
  • 22:00the love she showed towards
  • 22:03these men is instrumental.
  • 22:04It cannot be thrown out.
  • 22:07As part of the atrocity,
  • 22:09let's talk about that.
  • 22:10When the study broke in the
  • 22:12newspapers in 1972,
  • 22:14it was actually still going on.
  • 22:16You have to understand no,
  • 22:18that on the health professional side,
  • 22:20few thought anything was wrong.
  • 22:21This was not a secret.
  • 22:23You see that sign of dirt secret
  • 22:26Tuskegee study was never a secret.
  • 22:28It were articles published in medical
  • 22:30journals like 20 year retrospective of
  • 22:32untreated syphilis in the male mean.
  • 22:34These things were happening and
  • 22:36being published during the time
  • 22:38of of the civil rights movement.
  • 22:40It is an amazing story and This
  • 22:43is why it has so much traction.
  • 22:45Why is this important here again?
  • 22:49They use qualitative research.
  • 22:51They reached out that used anthropologists
  • 22:54to do interviews of world that
  • 22:55people in the rural South to
  • 22:58understand their their their beliefs,
  • 23:00their cultural cues,
  • 23:01and one of the things they learned in
  • 23:04doing those qualitative interviews
  • 23:06with that that for many black people
  • 23:09in the rural South who were poor.
  • 23:12There was a great fear over
  • 23:14how they would be buried.
  • 23:15And people wanted to be buried decently,
  • 23:18and if you were poor in a rural farmer,
  • 23:21it is highly likely that you
  • 23:23would be buried in a seed sack.
  • 23:26But if you join the Tuskegee Study,
  • 23:29guess what?
  • 23:29All the burial out cost of your
  • 23:32burial would be taken care of by the
  • 23:36government with burial insurance.
  • 23:38They used the information
  • 23:40about the cultural cues.
  • 23:42Not necessarily to empower the people.
  • 23:46But to get them to do with the
  • 23:49scientists wanted them to do.
  • 23:51We now need qualitative research
  • 23:54and understanding the cultural and
  • 23:56linguistic in the history of the minority
  • 24:00communities that we want to be involved in.
  • 24:03The COVID-19 vaccine trial.
  • 24:06What are we going to do
  • 24:08with that information?
  • 24:09Will we use it to create more
  • 24:12informed decision makers?
  • 24:14Or will it be used again to
  • 24:16get the people to do?
  • 24:18What we scientists want them to do?
  • 24:20Let's talk about that during the discussion.
  • 24:24Today that legacy is part of
  • 24:26what we call cultural memory.
  • 24:28I don't know if you knew that the
  • 24:31Tuskegee study now lives as a
  • 24:34movie in this average boys that it
  • 24:36lives in a jazz CD by Don Byron,
  • 24:39called Tuskegee experiments or the
  • 24:41one I really like that actually
  • 24:43lives in a Marvel Comic Book
  • 24:46Magazine called the truth.
  • 24:47So now these things were out in
  • 24:50the general public are out in the
  • 24:53culture and we as researchers,
  • 24:54investigators and health care professionals.
  • 24:56Need to understand this is the cultural
  • 24:59context in which were coming in.
  • 25:02Engaging people in conversations
  • 25:06about research.
  • 25:08So one of the things that I want to
  • 25:10make sure people don't lose whenever
  • 25:12I read the newspaper reports to
  • 25:14talk about the Tuskegee atrocity.
  • 25:16They don't talk about any of the
  • 25:18positives that came on the aftermath.
  • 25:20And one of those positives was
  • 25:22the Belmont report.
  • 25:24And it came out with three principles.
  • 25:26Respect for persons.
  • 25:28But in essence,
  • 25:30and justice and we spend a lot
  • 25:32of time on respect for persons.
  • 25:35Your autonomous agent.
  • 25:36It's USD human subject or
  • 25:38potential human subject to sign
  • 25:40an informed consent beneficence.
  • 25:41We agree as researchers not to
  • 25:43harm you to do all that we can
  • 25:46to make sure that you're,
  • 25:48well,
  • 25:48that's what we're going to do good by you.
  • 25:51But we don't really talk as much
  • 25:54about the principle of justice.
  • 25:56Which I think is where we should
  • 25:58be getting much greater attention.
  • 26:01That means that those who bear
  • 26:03the burden of research should
  • 26:05not be denied the benefit,
  • 26:06and I would submit to you that over
  • 26:09the history from slavery to today.
  • 26:12People are colored black.
  • 26:14People,
  • 26:14in particular have borne
  • 26:16the burden of research.
  • 26:18And we are not have not yet
  • 26:21benefited from that research,
  • 26:23and I would submit to you again that
  • 26:26the national campaign to eliminate
  • 26:28racial ethnic health disparities
  • 26:30is part of that. Atonement.
  • 26:33Part of that making things better.
  • 26:37Part of that issue of justice,
  • 26:39and so we should be aggressive.
  • 26:42And reaching out,
  • 26:43building bridges, building trust,
  • 26:45building healthy communities an.
  • 26:47I say that it is our institutions,
  • 26:50Yale as an institution to maintain
  • 26:53those relationships so that each
  • 26:55researcher doesn't have to start from
  • 26:57scratch to build those relationships.
  • 27:00Let's have a talk about that
  • 27:03as well during the discussion.
  • 27:06So there's a lot of talk going on
  • 27:08right now about single I Arby's.
  • 27:10As I mentioned, I'm on the all of us.
  • 27:13I RV. It's a single IR be.
  • 27:16We have multi sites all over the United
  • 27:18States and we are the Irbe of record.
  • 27:21There is an effort to move towards
  • 27:23single I Arby's from multi site clinical
  • 27:26trials in a much more aggressive way.
  • 27:28And when you start reading that material,
  • 27:30you begin to realize that the
  • 27:32motivation is really about accessing
  • 27:34those biospecimens and not having to.
  • 27:36Had barriers,
  • 27:37and as you can see in making the
  • 27:40case from bringing the common
  • 27:42rule into the 21st century,
  • 27:44when you read this,
  • 27:45it's very clearly from the
  • 27:47investigators vantage point and I
  • 27:49was actually a bit surprised that in
  • 27:52that justification they use the HeLa
  • 27:54cell line as the example of why a
  • 27:57common IR be would be so important.
  • 28:00And we all know about HeLa cells.
  • 28:03And now you know about Henrietta Lacks,
  • 28:07because again, another movie.
  • 28:09Another story that broke into
  • 28:12the mainstream by an author.
  • 28:14Rebecca Stewart.
  • 28:16What a wonderful job she did to bring
  • 28:20the story to our attention and.
  • 28:24Um?
  • 28:24Henrietta Lacks at the resident of.
  • 28:28Baltimore,
  • 28:28I share this with you because we
  • 28:31passed legislation to actually
  • 28:33create a Rd a highway in her honor
  • 28:35and these are members of the of the
  • 28:38Lacks family and I want you to see
  • 28:40this amazing from what happened in
  • 28:42Tuskegee and how its aftermath with
  • 28:45handled to what's going on here.
  • 28:47Now we name a Rd after him we have
  • 28:49relax now in the National Portrait Gallery.
  • 28:52She hangs in the National Portrait
  • 28:55Gallery's like the mother of bio medicine.
  • 28:57I mean,
  • 28:58it's uh.
  • 28:59Fascinating demonstration of what we can do.
  • 29:05With enlightened leadership.
  • 29:07Let's talk about that.
  • 29:09But I actually think that the case
  • 29:11typically we talk about single I Arby's,
  • 29:14and the need to make sure that
  • 29:16we respect local local issue,
  • 29:18local culture, the better example
  • 29:20or another example won't say better.
  • 29:22This is another example,
  • 29:24is the Havasupai case.
  • 29:26And I'm I'm hoping sure that many of
  • 29:30the audience know about this case,
  • 29:33but here is a situation where again informed
  • 29:36consent was collected was obtained.
  • 29:39And you're sitting there with the
  • 29:42stored samples and you got Young
  • 29:44Scholars who need to graduate
  • 29:45and get their degrees and gum.
  • 29:47Some young scholar wanted to do his
  • 29:50dissertation on genetics and schizophrenia.
  • 29:52Long story short,
  • 29:53you kind of get the point right.
  • 29:56And and and the professor was
  • 29:58so pleased to say,
  • 30:00let's invite a member of the
  • 30:03community to your defense,
  • 30:04to your defense,
  • 30:06to your dissertation defense.
  • 30:07What a great idea.
  • 30:09And so the person from the community
  • 30:12as this thing began as the as the
  • 30:15young scholar began to describe his,
  • 30:18his research on schizophrenia,
  • 30:20migration, inbreeding.
  • 30:21She raised her hand and said,
  • 30:23who gave permission for this?
  • 30:28Yeah, you hear that silence.
  • 30:29That's what happened in the room.
  • 30:32And what happened next?
  • 30:33Front page news all across the
  • 30:36United States lawsuits, you see,
  • 30:39it was settled there for 700,000.
  • 30:41But more and more importantly,
  • 30:43the native tribes.
  • 30:45A shut down all research.
  • 30:47This too, is a population suffering
  • 30:50a disproportionate burden.
  • 30:51Of Covid deaths and infection.
  • 30:55How do we rebuild relationships and trust
  • 30:59with the Native American community?
  • 31:03So I think that relevant local
  • 31:05information includes culture,
  • 31:07linguistic characteristics
  • 31:07of potential participants,
  • 31:09geographic and social economic issues,
  • 31:11knowledge about researchers,
  • 31:12and information about study, site variation.
  • 31:16You gotta do all that.
  • 31:18Can this be done with one single IRB as
  • 31:21the question is rhetorical question,
  • 31:24let's talk about it.
  • 31:27So.
  • 31:27Since one of the key elements of ethical
  • 31:32research is the informed consent process.
  • 31:37I thought that's what I would use simply
  • 31:40as the example for our discussion today.
  • 31:43Ann One of the things that we've
  • 31:46done in our qualitative research,
  • 31:50we've interviewed African Americans.
  • 31:52And we've interviewed researchers.
  • 31:54And we took the results of those
  • 31:57interviews and produced a scenario an
  • 32:00I want you all once again to hold on.
  • 32:03I'm going to stop sharing and
  • 32:06I'm going to show you.
  • 32:09I'm going to introduce you to Mr Gray.
  • 32:11Here we go. Keep your fingers crossed.
  • 32:16OK, now I go back into share.
  • 32:20And.
  • 32:36And hold on. Bear with me,
  • 32:39ladies and gentlemen, bear with me.
  • 32:42Here we go, Mr Green.
  • 32:45Come on, get out of my way.
  • 32:48There you go. Alright.
  • 32:59just want someone to verify. Could you
  • 33:06hear the sound? 65 year old?
  • 33:13Yeah, OK here we go. Bold
  • 33:15African American man with three
  • 33:16grown children for 15 years.
  • 33:18He worked on the loading dock at the
  • 33:20local Walmart but was laid off after
  • 33:23suffering a non work related back injury.
  • 33:25Eventually he found work as a
  • 33:27security guard at a bank but he
  • 33:29currently has no health insurance.
  • 33:31One year ago, Mr Green notice blood
  • 33:33in his urine, but initially he
  • 33:35was too embarrassed to mention
  • 33:36the problem. Do anyone? After
  • 33:38a few weeks, he began to feel
  • 33:41pain on urination and
  • 33:42went to the emergency
  • 33:43room at the emergency room.
  • 33:45Mr Green received a hurried
  • 33:46examination and was given a
  • 33:48prescription for antibiotics.
  • 33:49After a week on the antibiotics, he returned
  • 33:52to the ER since there had been no
  • 33:55change in his symptoms at the emergency room,
  • 33:57he received a prescription for
  • 33:59a second type of antibiotic.
  • 34:02Once again, Mr Green saw no improvement
  • 34:04in his condition and returned to the ER.
  • 34:07A third doctor suggested
  • 34:08that he undergo a cystoscopy.
  • 34:12It took Mr Green
  • 34:13two months to save up the $750
  • 34:16for the procedure which revealed
  • 34:18cancerous cells and subsequent
  • 34:19work has revealed bladder cancer.
  • 34:23Today, Mr Green will meet with an
  • 34:25oncologist who would like to enroll
  • 34:26him in a clinical trial to study
  • 34:29the effects of a new cancer drug
  • 34:31used in combination with the current
  • 34:33standard 2 drug treatment combination.
  • 34:47Mr Green, unfortunately with the with
  • 34:49the late diagnosis that you have,
  • 34:51it has limited our options
  • 34:53for how we can treat this,
  • 34:56but what I can offer you is we do
  • 34:59have a clinical trial that we've just
  • 35:02begun the time researching at this
  • 35:04point where we have a 3 drug therapy.
  • 35:07I really believe this would be
  • 35:10your best option at this point.
  • 35:12Wait a minute, don't you have
  • 35:14anything positive to tell me, I mean.
  • 35:17Sorry, unfortunately at this point.
  • 35:21We're not looking that this is
  • 35:23something that could be curable,
  • 35:25but what we can do is hopefully
  • 35:27arrest development dot.
  • 35:28I've been through hell.
  • 35:30I know this thing started a year ago.
  • 35:34I scared to death on me with
  • 35:36blood coming out of my urine.
  • 35:38I really embarrassed that I
  • 35:39realized that unfortunately,
  • 35:40with the delay that you that you
  • 35:42had in seeking treatment delay,
  • 35:44I went to the emergency room
  • 35:453 separate occasions.
  • 35:46The first time I stayed there 2
  • 35:48hours and waited for Doctor Who
  • 35:50spent less than 10 minutes with me.
  • 35:52Took a urine sample and sent me on my way.
  • 35:55It was like I wasn't even there.
  • 35:57A week later I'm still bleeding.
  • 35:59I go back to the emergency room.
  • 36:01I waited another two hours of darkness day.
  • 36:03As long as the first understand.
  • 36:05I have read tell me this document Mr Green.
  • 36:08I have read your chart.
  • 36:09I'll go back a third time.
  • 36:11Then it might have some cystoscopy
  • 36:12or whatever. The thing is, just ask.
  • 36:15Why can't I have the surgery?
  • 36:18At this point the surgery would not be
  • 36:21something that would be beneficial to you.
  • 36:24This clinical trial that I am doing now,
  • 36:27we're hoping to look at A3 drug
  • 36:30therapy that will address the
  • 36:32problem from another angle.
  • 36:34Normally we do only A2 drug therapy.
  • 36:37That's what standard now,
  • 36:38but we're hoping that this third
  • 36:41drug therapy will come at it
  • 36:43from a different angle,
  • 36:45and that although we can't cure the
  • 36:47cancer at this point, we could.
  • 36:50Prolong prolong your life.
  • 36:52Arrested Development a bit?
  • 36:55Prolong my life yes.
  • 36:58What are you telling me?
  • 36:59I can't have the surgery,
  • 37:00So what are my chances without the surgery?
  • 37:03On average, with the standard
  • 37:06to drug therapy at this point,
  • 37:09we're looking at nine months.
  • 37:13But What I would like you to take a
  • 37:16look at is this information I have on
  • 37:20the clinical trial that we are starting now.
  • 37:25The one thing that we do need to be aware
  • 37:28of is whether or not you are diabetic.
  • 37:30Do you have any history of diabetes
  • 37:32in your family or do you know
  • 37:34that you are diabetic yourself?
  • 37:36OK,
  • 37:36that would be our first step that we
  • 37:38would have you tested for diabetes.
  • 37:40If you are diabetic,
  • 37:42that would eliminate you from the
  • 37:44possibility of joining this trial.
  • 37:46But that's where we would like to start.
  • 37:48So what I would like to do is
  • 37:50set up an appointment with my
  • 37:52nurse out in the waiting area
  • 37:54so that we can start this right away.
  • 37:57Get you get you in the
  • 37:59loop and get you started.
  • 38:00Here, I gotta talk to my kids about this.
  • 38:04I mean. Mr Green. Obviously you're
  • 38:07aware that time is of the essence.
  • 38:09I know and I know you don't
  • 38:11have alot of time.
  • 38:12I know you're a big man.
  • 38:13I see all the people following you
  • 38:15around your very important but.
  • 38:19If we were there together,
  • 38:20we would have you write down the
  • 38:23first thing that comes to mind.
  • 38:25I'm going to ask you to do that right now.
  • 38:29Right down the first thing that comes
  • 38:31to mind and drop it in the chat.
  • 38:34Drop it in the chat.
  • 38:36First thing that comes to mind.
  • 38:38Drop it in the chat.
  • 38:41Again, the whole point here is a
  • 38:45discussion we could deconstruct
  • 38:47that and point out so many things,
  • 38:51and one of the things I want you to ask
  • 38:57yourself is, do you know doctor Archer?
  • 39:02Was doctor Archer your mentor?
  • 39:04Is Doctor Archer sitting next
  • 39:07to you right now?
  • 39:09Let's talk about. How we train.
  • 39:12And what the patients go through
  • 39:14before they finally sit in front of us.
  • 39:17And we give them an opportunity
  • 39:19to participate in a research.
  • 39:21If your health care delivery system
  • 39:24is failing these communities.
  • 39:26You, as an investigator,
  • 39:28will also be tainted by that.
  • 39:32Does it matter if you weren't?
  • 39:33There doesn't matter if you didn't do it.
  • 39:35And this is all the more reason why we
  • 39:38need to make sure that these COVID-19
  • 39:41vaccine trials don't mess things up.
  • 39:43Because they will mess things up for
  • 39:46everything that comes after it flu vaccine.
  • 39:49Childhood vacinations all
  • 39:50kinds of things we really need
  • 39:52to do this with great care.
  • 39:58Cultural tailoring matters. And.
  • 40:00One of the things I want to do is talk
  • 40:05about some of the solutions that we have.
  • 40:08And one of our solutions is to have that
  • 40:12conversation about bio medical research
  • 40:14way before somebody ends up in the hospital
  • 40:18trying to get a diagnosis for cancer,
  • 40:20we want to have that conversation in
  • 40:23settings that the Community Trust
  • 40:25that the community owns and operates
  • 40:28in our work for the past decade.
  • 40:31Actually, past 15 years we've been
  • 40:34building that infrastructure through
  • 40:35black Barber shops and beauty salons.
  • 40:38This image here where it says
  • 40:40the doctors in it is not Fred the
  • 40:44Barber playing second class doctor.
  • 40:46It is Fred The Barber, who has trust.
  • 40:50With his clients.
  • 40:52That is telling them the doctors
  • 40:55gonna be here tomorrow.
  • 40:57The Gastroenterologist is gonna be here
  • 40:59tomorrow to talk about colonoscopies.
  • 41:02We make the barbershop a safe place for
  • 41:06health professionals to come and do
  • 41:09education and to do life saving screenings.
  • 41:12And we call it health advocates interest in
  • 41:15research that should be in reach an research.
  • 41:18Sorry bout that typo health advocates
  • 41:20in reach.
  • 41:21Reaching within an research her.
  • 41:23And we've established the National
  • 41:25Association of black Barber shops and salons
  • 41:27or health do to really gather together.
  • 41:30Many of these programs around the country.
  • 41:32You may have heard about some.
  • 41:35You may have some right there in New
  • 41:37Haven and to bring them under an
  • 41:39umbrella to ensure that their receiving
  • 41:42evidence based information too.
  • 41:44To increase the likelihood that they
  • 41:46are reaching their clients with
  • 41:48valuable information that their
  • 41:49venues can be opportunities to train
  • 41:52or health professionals.
  • 41:53What you see here is a young pharmacist
  • 41:56interacting with this young man and
  • 41:58that's her Dean's standing behind her.
  • 42:00These are my two partners.
  • 42:02We have 10 shops here in the Metro DC area.
  • 42:06Mr Fred surprise of President of
  • 42:08our National Association of black
  • 42:10Barber shops and salons for Health,
  • 42:12and Mr Brown is the vice president.
  • 42:15And we're really giving these men
  • 42:17agency to talk about research,
  • 42:20to talk about health promotion,
  • 42:22disease prevention, and the Macon.
  • 42:24OK,
  • 42:24to have those conversations in
  • 42:27the barbershop.
  • 42:28And we believe that this is an
  • 42:31underutilized resource we all know about
  • 42:34the church and faith based programs.
  • 42:36This is simply another asset,
  • 42:38especially during covid,
  • 42:40that we need to bring to the table
  • 42:43and what you see us doing here is
  • 42:46looking at what's the likelihood was
  • 42:49the feasibility and acceptability
  • 42:51of bringing a COVID-19 saliva test.
  • 42:54Into the barbershop, how might that work?
  • 42:57And as you can see here,
  • 42:59the barbers are really excited
  • 43:02to have spit in a tube,
  • 43:04got their laboratory pack ready,
  • 43:06sent it off to the lab of once
  • 43:09the pack arrived at the lab.
  • 43:12They had results on their cell
  • 43:15phone in 24 hours, 24 hours.
  • 43:17In December we brought the barbers together
  • 43:20with scientists under a workshop title,
  • 43:23what black barbers and stylists,
  • 43:25data scientist,
  • 43:26no research on us.
  • 43:28Without us, the community wants to
  • 43:29be part of research they believe
  • 43:32research is important, but they want
  • 43:34to be part of the whole process.
  • 43:37Don't show up when everything's all decided.
  • 43:39Tell me to roll my sleeve up we
  • 43:42want to be part of the process
  • 43:44from the beginning to the end,
  • 43:47and we also want to make sure that you come
  • 43:50back to our community and share the results.
  • 43:53The infrastructure that we've created
  • 43:55allows for makes it makes it easier for
  • 43:58researchers to be able to come back
  • 44:00and deliver results to the community,
  • 44:02so her builds upon this rich and powerful
  • 44:04history in barbers and beauticians
  • 44:06after telling my white colleagues.
  • 44:08No self respecting Black Barber.
  • 44:11Whatever say I'll get you in and
  • 44:14out 15 minutes.
  • 44:15It is an experience of family experience.
  • 44:18People are there for hours and these
  • 44:21barbers have relationships with
  • 44:23their clients that doctors would.
  • 44:25Would wish for.
  • 44:27And so we are training the barbers.
  • 44:32We put him through formal training.
  • 44:35We had our first Barber become a
  • 44:38certified community health worker
  • 44:40that makes them eligible for
  • 44:43reimbursement through insurance.
  • 44:45There's just many innovative ways to
  • 44:48think about how we build back better.
  • 44:53In many ways, these barbers are like artists.
  • 44:55Organizing them is not easy and
  • 44:57it's taken time,
  • 44:58but we have spent the time that we
  • 45:01think we understand the factors
  • 45:03that would allow us to spread this
  • 45:06model across the country.
  • 45:08And so it now about looking in
  • 45:10the mirror ourselves.
  • 45:11But before I do that, I gotta take you back.
  • 45:14Because if I don't take you
  • 45:16into the barbershop,
  • 45:17Karen is going to be on my case.
  • 45:20So let me let it cross your
  • 45:22fingers one more time,
  • 45:23cross your fingers,
  • 45:24run more time I've gotta take you into the
  • 45:27barbershop so that you can meet the barbers.
  • 45:29An I think that you're going to be very,
  • 45:32very,
  • 45:32if you've never been in a black Barber shop.
  • 45:35You might find this quite interesting,
  • 45:37so I think I'm sharing my screen here.
  • 45:40Here we go.
  • 45:42Um?
  • 45:42Keep your fingers crossed oh,
  • 45:46keep your fingers crossed and I'm
  • 45:49gonna take you into the Barber shop,
  • 45:52here in Hyattsville, MD.
  • 45:54Here we go.
  • 45:58Early in the pandemic,
  • 46:00you heard the refrain.
  • 46:03We're all in this together.
  • 46:07And I love that. But overtime,
  • 46:09as we've begun to see how the virus has
  • 46:13exposed inequalities in our society.
  • 46:15We realized that we may be all in the
  • 46:19same storm, but we're in different boats.
  • 46:22And if you're not testing in vulnerable
  • 46:26communities, minority communities,
  • 46:28you're flying color blind.
  • 46:31That's what we're trying to fix well.
  • 46:35In many African American communities,
  • 46:38trust between the black community,
  • 46:41an medical health systems hospitals,
  • 46:44researchers. It has been broken.
  • 46:46It has been crushed.
  • 46:48It has been tarnished.
  • 46:50And therefore it must be rebuilt.
  • 46:53There were Flyers being distributed
  • 46:55saying Covid is a hoax.
  • 46:57Don't take the test.
  • 46:59Don't take the vaccine being spread
  • 47:03in the black community.
  • 47:05Everybody is afraid of.
  • 47:07Some people don't know why they're afraid.
  • 47:12Some people just afraid because
  • 47:14other people are afraid.
  • 47:15We got work to do.
  • 47:20And I'm convinced that you
  • 47:23need to engage people in the
  • 47:26community who already have trust.
  • 47:29Black barbers and stylists have tremendous
  • 47:32credibility and tremendous trust.
  • 47:35We become like pillar citizens
  • 47:38in the community.
  • 47:39We become fashion consultants,
  • 47:42marriage counselors, health advocates.
  • 47:44And the credibility they have the trust
  • 47:48they have is something that we now need.
  • 47:51In an effort to eliminate.
  • 47:54Racial and ethnic health disparities.
  • 47:57And at the time of a global pandemic,
  • 48:00what better place?
  • 48:01To role model how to protect yourself?
  • 48:04That's why the saliva test is so important.
  • 48:07It's a breakthrough.
  • 48:09We've launched the campaign to mobilize black
  • 48:12Barber shops and beauty salons as Cobett.
  • 48:1419 mitigation sites where you can learn
  • 48:17how to protect yourself and your family,
  • 48:20where you can get a COVID-19 saliva
  • 48:22test where you can get a flu shot and
  • 48:26where you can get a really good haircut.
  • 48:29And if we can bring a test.
  • 48:32Into a humble black barbershop.
  • 48:35And if it is acceptable,
  • 48:37and if it is feasible. Why not?
  • 48:41Why can't we do it all over the country?
  • 48:45Last night we have something for you.
  • 48:50Now for the past two decades.
  • 48:54Efforts of mobilizing black
  • 48:57Barber shops around colon cancer.
  • 49:01Prostate cancer hypertension
  • 49:03have been growing.
  • 49:05My bottle was mine is my counselor.
  • 49:07We've covered numerous alot
  • 49:09of things over the years.
  • 49:12It says we've been dealing
  • 49:13with the matter school.
  • 49:14Probably help.
  • 49:15And I think it's definitely better
  • 49:18beneficial to our community fired.
  • 49:21Silver doctors I really appreciate
  • 49:25you being available man.
  • 49:27You don't have to have space suit on
  • 49:31another in order to administer it.
  • 49:34It's self administered.
  • 49:36And you literally go through a step by
  • 49:40step guide about how to do the procedure.
  • 49:44And you literally spit into a tube.
  • 49:48For like a walking through the desert.
  • 49:52Testing matters I mean.
  • 49:54The brothers in the shop not
  • 49:58only were willing and able.
  • 50:01Some of the people watching say,
  • 50:03Hey,
  • 50:03who are these folks?
  • 50:05What are they doing when they found out
  • 50:07that Mike was doing akova test saliva test,
  • 50:11they said can I have one?
  • 50:13Can I do one? That's how trust works.
  • 50:16Drop that in the UPS envelope.
  • 50:18The rest all comes on the phone.
  • 50:21It's an amazing process and I can tell you
  • 50:24right now he's telling his family about it.
  • 50:27He's telling his friends,
  • 50:29and in these communities that's how it works.
  • 50:32It's really the word of mouth.
  • 50:34It's not just the message
  • 50:36is also the Messenger.
  • 50:38I think the world is going
  • 50:40to change behind this.
  • 50:42I think if we do this right
  • 50:44we will rebuild better,
  • 50:46but the Barber shop of the future.
  • 50:49In the post pandemic period will
  • 50:51actually be a place where you
  • 50:53can receive quality healthcare.
  • 50:55Imagine that I just got my seat belt on.
  • 50:59I got my seat belt on,
  • 51:01that's it and go for the ride.
  • 51:36thank those barbers. They were awesome.
  • 51:45Now I'm gonna head to the finish
  • 51:48line here and hang in there.
  • 51:50I'm doing this share again.
  • 51:53OK, where was I?
  • 51:56OK, here we go. And so, again,
  • 52:02are the themes that we've addressed.
  • 52:05Have been varied.
  • 52:06We have collected Michael bio DNA.
  • 52:09We've done air quality measures and
  • 52:12collected urine to look for endocrine
  • 52:16disrupting chemicals in the expire urine.
  • 52:19Once we had the trust.
  • 52:22It's amazing even our basic scientist
  • 52:24or able to work with us in the
  • 52:27Barber shops and beauty salons.
  • 52:29And so we believe this is a way forward
  • 52:31of thinking differently of rebuilding
  • 52:33back better and really putting an
  • 52:36infrastructure in place that allows
  • 52:38us to address the underlying health
  • 52:40disparities that are plaguing this community.
  • 52:42And so this notion of we call
  • 52:45it urban immersion, FFF.
  • 52:46We were not in the pandemic.
  • 52:49I would convince your leaders there that we
  • 52:51should bring a delegation here to Maryland.
  • 52:54We would spend time in the Barber shops.
  • 52:57We would immerse you in the community.
  • 53:00But one of the things that
  • 53:02the pandemic has done.
  • 53:04It has made us again,
  • 53:05think very creatively,
  • 53:07and so another part of our training
  • 53:10has to do with how to become
  • 53:12a self reflective researcher.
  • 53:13And this is the use of
  • 53:16artificial intelligence.
  • 53:17And virtual reality,
  • 53:18and so in the previous video you
  • 53:22had a chance to meet Mr Green.
  • 53:24That was our creation of a video
  • 53:27with an actor to reenact what we had
  • 53:31found in our qualitative research.
  • 53:33This is a Fast forward to what
  • 53:35I think may well be.
  • 53:37The game changer in the future
  • 53:39for training health professionals
  • 53:40and researchers in particular.
  • 53:41And it's called the.
  • 53:43This is our 3D virtual reality human subject.
  • 53:46This is Darius sitting in the chair there,
  • 53:49but up in the upper right hand
  • 53:51corner is Doctor Wilbur chin.
  • 53:54Our position scientists,
  • 53:55who is one of the investigators on the
  • 53:59COVID-19 vaccine trial and Doctor Chan,
  • 54:02is challenged with the recruiting Latin X,
  • 54:05an African American participants to
  • 54:07the trial, and so this scenario.
  • 54:10We actually programmed Darius to
  • 54:13respond in the ways that we know from
  • 54:16the literature that African Americans
  • 54:18and other minorities feel with those
  • 54:21factors are in there literally.
  • 54:23In active and Doctor Chen
  • 54:25literally has a conversation.
  • 54:27If we had more time I would
  • 54:29show you the scenario.
  • 54:31Maybe will follow up and
  • 54:33you'll be able to see it.
  • 54:35One of the things that in the debrief
  • 54:37with doctor chin he described that he
  • 54:40could feel his heart rate increase.
  • 54:42He actually had any emotional
  • 54:44response interacting with Darius,
  • 54:45and that's exactly what you want to
  • 54:48have when they've done research in
  • 54:50real time with real people in what
  • 54:52they call the standardized patient model.
  • 54:55I'm cortisol levels in real time with
  • 54:58real people with the same cortisol
  • 55:00results they saw in the simulation.
  • 55:03So let's talk about this.
  • 55:05How computer simulation can
  • 55:07help accelerate improving,
  • 55:08giving our researchers new tools
  • 55:10so you can practice right
  • 55:13here in the simulator before
  • 55:15you go out into the community.
  • 55:18Are we also have an online interactive
  • 55:20website called building trust?
  • 55:21This is one of the products
  • 55:23scientific products of our NIH grant,
  • 55:25and it's available we can talk about
  • 55:27this as well with tremendous resources,
  • 55:30and this is the training
  • 55:31program that we have.
  • 55:33I told the organizers I was not interested
  • 55:36in coming in doing a one and done.
  • 55:39I'm interested in convincing your
  • 55:41leaders that we need to actually
  • 55:43implement this kind of training of for
  • 55:46researchers to become self reflective,
  • 55:49not only in the context of Kovid,
  • 55:52but in the context of the underlying health
  • 55:56disparities that we're all witnessing.
  • 55:59And so I'm gonna head to
  • 56:01the finish line here,
  • 56:02'cause it's that conversation.
  • 56:03I think that is so important.
  • 56:05But this process and you all know it.
  • 56:07The informed consent.
  • 56:08You blame us sometimes in the IR be,
  • 56:11but it is one of the aftermath.
  • 56:13Positive legacies from pesky that
  • 56:15we have better informed consent.
  • 56:16But here's one of the things that
  • 56:18we've learned in our own research when
  • 56:21we ask questions to researchers and
  • 56:23we ask questions to the community.
  • 56:25Let me just take a moment here for Karen Or.
  • 56:29Doctor material how are we doing on time?
  • 56:39We're doing good.
  • 56:40We will have a hard stop at 6:30, OK?
  • 56:44So these are the questions.
  • 56:45What methods do you use?
  • 56:47And you you should work with me here.
  • 56:50I'm asking you what method do you use
  • 56:52during the informed consent process?
  • 56:54What strategies do you use
  • 56:56to increase understanding?
  • 56:57How do you assess participant understanding?
  • 56:59That was a question to the researchers.
  • 57:01Here is a question to the community.
  • 57:04How do you like to learn about research?
  • 57:07What methods are helpful for understanding
  • 57:09the informed consent process?
  • 57:10General knowledge of research terms
  • 57:12and the purpose of informed consent.
  • 57:16And I'll take a look at what we found
  • 57:19again in terms of the comparison,
  • 57:21knowledge of research terms,
  • 57:23the percent of African Americans
  • 57:24who got it correctly, Sir,
  • 57:26African American Latinos.
  • 57:27And you can see no ones getting 100%.
  • 57:31And I don't know if you think
  • 57:33that when it comes to placebo at
  • 57:3659.4% got it correct and 54% of
  • 57:39the next people got it correct.
  • 57:41I don't know if you think that's acceptable,
  • 57:44but I can say right now in reading
  • 57:46some of the stories of the of the
  • 57:50COVID-19 clinical trial participants,
  • 57:51there was over African American
  • 57:54woman who was like surprised.
  • 57:56That she was possibly in the placebo arm.
  • 57:59She had no idea that somehow
  • 58:01she would not get active.
  • 58:03Active vaccine isn't that interesting.
  • 58:07There's a reason why we have
  • 58:09placebo controlled trials,
  • 58:10and if the community doesn't
  • 58:12understand that you don't want
  • 58:14them thinking they've been duped.
  • 58:16Randomization just a little more
  • 58:18than half nobody, randomization is.
  • 58:19And far fewer know what a double
  • 58:22blind study and that's the case
  • 58:24with the Kovid Vaccine.
  • 58:26These are double blind.
  • 58:28Double blind randomized trials.
  • 58:31So we can compare the researchers methods
  • 58:33to methods to preferences of the community.
  • 58:36Take a look at here the researchers
  • 58:39in blue and the community members
  • 58:41are in red terms of the bars,
  • 58:44so when it comes to take information home,
  • 58:47more researchers.
  • 58:48Do that one on one discussion.
  • 58:51The key is to see where you
  • 58:53see the big difference.
  • 58:55Look at talk to participant.
  • 58:58The community wants more talk.
  • 59:00They want more time to talk about it.
  • 59:03The community wants group discussion.
  • 59:05The community wants video.
  • 59:09The community wants interactive games even.
  • 59:13So we want to look at where we see this
  • 59:16mismatch and trying to get better alignment.
  • 59:19What about the format for
  • 59:20informed consent document?
  • 59:21The researchers are the black bars and
  • 59:24the community members are in the red bar.
  • 59:26Here again, look at plain language.
  • 59:28We all get that health literacy.
  • 59:30The researchers are all very,
  • 59:32very keen on that.
  • 59:33But how about taking time
  • 59:34to summarize the results?
  • 59:36To summarize what we just talked about,
  • 59:38how about using pictures about large print?
  • 59:41They both agree that question
  • 59:43and answer is important,
  • 59:44but look where the differences are.
  • 59:47So these differences between researchers
  • 59:49and community members strategies used
  • 59:52by researchers to teach potential
  • 59:54participants about the study or not
  • 59:56viewed as helpful by community members.
  • 59:58Methods considered by the community
  • 60:00members to be very helpful that are
  • 01:00:03that are less frequently used by the
  • 01:00:05researchers and formats for the informed
  • 01:00:07consent document preferred by the community.
  • 01:00:10Members are not often
  • 01:00:11used by the researchers.
  • 01:00:13We can do better.
  • 01:00:15What does the literature say about?
  • 01:00:18Most effective.
  • 01:00:20It's face to face interactions,
  • 01:00:23extended conversations teach
  • 01:00:24back in plain language.
  • 01:00:27Less effective pictures,
  • 01:00:28large print and video.
  • 01:00:29Isn't it interesting?
  • 01:00:31The very things of community
  • 01:00:33said they want more of the
  • 01:00:35literature says is less effective.
  • 01:00:37So we compare comparison of the community
  • 01:00:40member response and an effective strategies.
  • 01:00:42Again,
  • 01:00:43let's go to the literature.
  • 01:00:45Community members take information home.
  • 01:00:50One on one discussion.
  • 01:00:51This committee says this is what we want.
  • 01:00:54Multiple meetings.
  • 01:00:55Talk to study, but I want to talk
  • 01:00:58to somebody else is in that study.
  • 01:01:00Plain language, we have a lot of Acronyms,
  • 01:01:04a lot of a lot of. Say Mumbo Jumbo,
  • 01:01:07but we just speak in our own language,
  • 01:01:09and it's a problematic when someone ask
  • 01:01:11you what's a vaccine and all the sudden we
  • 01:01:13started giving them a microbiology class.
  • 01:01:16They want summaries.
  • 01:01:18They want pictures.
  • 01:01:20Here's the literature.
  • 01:01:21One on one discussion,
  • 01:01:22multiple meetings, group discussion,
  • 01:01:24talk with participants,
  • 01:01:25plain language,
  • 01:01:26and as you can see here in the bold
  • 01:01:30is where the two kind of align.
  • 01:01:33Here researchers assessment of
  • 01:01:36participants understanding.
  • 01:01:37So what do researchers assess?
  • 01:01:42At the participants actually understand.
  • 01:01:45Using open ended questions.
  • 01:01:4752% of them use open ended questions sign.
  • 01:01:51The initial an initial every
  • 01:01:53page of the consent document.
  • 01:01:5551% use that. These consent documents,
  • 01:01:59some of them are at least for the vaccine
  • 01:02:03trials Covid Vaccine stronger 2020 pages.
  • 01:02:06Sign every page. Teach backs.
  • 01:02:08Only 38% use out independent
  • 01:02:10monitor far fuel.
  • 01:02:1211% participants completed questionnaire.
  • 01:02:13Oh and 10% something other.
  • 01:02:16But look at this 32% did nothing.
  • 01:02:22What we know about informed
  • 01:02:25consent participants have complete.
  • 01:02:27Participants may have complete
  • 01:02:29comprehension of information delivered
  • 01:02:30during the informed consent process.
  • 01:02:33Discrepancies between researchers,
  • 01:02:34practices, and community members preferences
  • 01:02:37in both learning about and study.
  • 01:02:39Learning about a study and the informed
  • 01:02:42consent document and researchers
  • 01:02:43assessment of participant comprehension
  • 01:02:45limited and sometimes inadequate.
  • 01:02:47There are issues with the use of plain
  • 01:02:50language in the informed consent document.
  • 01:02:53Let's be honest with one another.
  • 01:02:57The informed consent document are
  • 01:03:00increasingly filling like legal
  • 01:03:02documents to protect our institutions.
  • 01:03:04And that that's the case,
  • 01:03:05let's just be honest about that.
  • 01:03:08Here's some recommendations to
  • 01:03:10an improved the informed consent
  • 01:03:12process increased comprehension.
  • 01:03:14Increase satisfaction.
  • 01:03:15To deal with comprehension one
  • 01:03:18on one discussions,
  • 01:03:19multiple meetings in plain language
  • 01:03:22and then assess their understanding.
  • 01:03:24The increase satisfaction one on
  • 01:03:26one discussion, multiple meetings,
  • 01:03:28pictures and summaries.
  • 01:03:30And maybe we should follow what
  • 01:03:33doctor Collins had to say in 2011.
  • 01:03:35Perhaps we need to rethink all
  • 01:03:38those 22 page consent forms.
  • 01:03:40And he says that nobody reads anyway.
  • 01:03:42I thought that was quite interesting.
  • 01:03:46And so and so. With that,
  • 01:03:49I'm going to take the chance
  • 01:03:51and come out of share screen.
  • 01:03:54Find out what has been put in that chat box.
  • 01:03:59Open up this conversation.
  • 01:04:01And see if your colleagues there at Yale, Dr.
  • 01:04:04Mercurio, if he still gonna speak to me.
  • 01:04:07Hello, my friend.
  • 01:04:08Hello my friend,
  • 01:04:09you know, I apologize,
  • 01:04:10I couldn't get on.
  • 01:04:11That has been in the corner
  • 01:04:13silence and I couldn't break out.
  • 01:04:15When you ask me about time. So that's why.
  • 01:04:18Thanks Karen for responding.
  • 01:04:19But I did break out of the cone of silence
  • 01:04:22and I'm here now and we've got some
  • 01:04:24questions for you on the talk was wonderful.
  • 01:04:27I thank you so much.
  • 01:04:28There's a lot there. We learned a lot.
  • 01:04:31It is one of the frustrating aspects.
  • 01:04:33Of these these times,
  • 01:04:34the kovid times that we can't take a
  • 01:04:35Field Trip and see what you're doing
  • 01:04:37in the barbershop, see what's going on.
  • 01:04:38You know I was just in a meeting before this,
  • 01:04:41where someone was talking about how you
  • 01:04:42know another place they do such and such,
  • 01:04:44and I was thinking, you know,
  • 01:04:45any other year I would say, Well,
  • 01:04:47let's just get in the car or get on a
  • 01:04:49plane and go see what they're doing.
  • 01:04:51But it's not so easy now,
  • 01:04:52so that's frustrating.
  • 01:04:53So for you to bring this here to us in
  • 01:04:55a way that really brings it to life
  • 01:04:56is very helpful and much appreciated.
  • 01:04:58So I have one question.
  • 01:04:59Is a little bit long.
  • 01:05:00It's from one of our public
  • 01:05:02health professors and I want to.
  • 01:05:03I want to share this with you.
  • 01:05:05It's about the disparities related
  • 01:05:06to COVID-19,
  • 01:05:07so it's not directly related to the
  • 01:05:09to the research issues are raised,
  • 01:05:11but let me read this and get your
  • 01:05:13take on this and then for the
  • 01:05:15others were listening on the call,
  • 01:05:17Please send in questions you might
  • 01:05:19have via chat and I'll pick some
  • 01:05:21up and read him to Professor Thomas
  • 01:05:23after he is a chance to chew on
  • 01:05:25this for a little bit.
  • 01:05:26So the question that was sent to us
  • 01:05:28was this the disparities in population level?
  • 01:05:30Severe outcomes of COVID-19 such
  • 01:05:32as hospitalizations and deaths.
  • 01:05:33Scene between people of color.
  • 01:05:35An non Hispanic whites are,
  • 01:05:37in my opinion largely attributable
  • 01:05:39to differences in exposure both
  • 01:05:41at work and within the home.
  • 01:05:42Much of an involuntary and to
  • 01:05:44a lesser extent,
  • 01:05:45the former having a higher prevalence
  • 01:05:47of risk factors for severe outcomes,
  • 01:05:50for example obesity and diabetes.
  • 01:05:51So it's more about exposure and less
  • 01:05:54about the risk factors, it says suggested.
  • 01:05:56Here.
  • 01:05:57However,
  • 01:05:57some might claim that they also
  • 01:05:59could have a higher prevalence of
  • 01:06:01personal risk taking behaviors such
  • 01:06:03as less mascus Less social distancing,
  • 01:06:05more attendance at large gatherings
  • 01:06:07such as religion related.
  • 01:06:09Are there good studies examining
  • 01:06:11the prevalence of preventable risk
  • 01:06:14taking behavior by a racial or
  • 01:06:16ethnic groups in United States,
  • 01:06:18such as attitude or behavior studies,
  • 01:06:21so is there?
  • 01:06:22Are there good studies examining
  • 01:06:24the prevalence of preventable
  • 01:06:26risk taking behavior?
  • 01:06:28By different racial and
  • 01:06:29ethnic groups in the US.
  • 01:06:30Are you aware of that?
  • 01:06:33Well, at. I think that some of it is early.
  • 01:06:39I think those are the studies that we need.
  • 01:06:41We've seen billions of dollars literally
  • 01:06:43thrown into the vaccine development,
  • 01:06:45you know, but we're giving them
  • 01:06:47billions of dollars even before
  • 01:06:49they've developed a vaccine.
  • 01:06:50But to get an investment
  • 01:06:52in social science research,
  • 01:06:53to answer the very question
  • 01:06:55that's being asked here. Listen,
  • 01:06:57we're living now in a natural experiment,
  • 01:06:59we're putting the American people
  • 01:07:01through a natural experiment.
  • 01:07:02We need those kind of studies,
  • 01:07:04but if anyone who's been watching has
  • 01:07:07seen these RF peas come out of our.
  • 01:07:10The agency we love, the NIH.
  • 01:07:12They're competitive,
  • 01:07:13non competitive renewal's their
  • 01:07:15supplements there you already have
  • 01:07:18to have have a grant to get a grant
  • 01:07:21me it's just crazy and then some of
  • 01:07:23the bigger awards were they have one
  • 01:07:26award in the entire country. So so.
  • 01:07:29I'm not saying that their studies that
  • 01:07:31were being called for having been done.
  • 01:07:34I haven't seen them.
  • 01:07:35I live in this space. I look for them.
  • 01:07:38I'm doing, let searches for them.
  • 01:07:40I haven't seen it yet.
  • 01:07:42But everything that was asked.
  • 01:07:46Is answerable.
  • 01:07:49But the kind of robust research to answer it,
  • 01:07:52I don't see being done.
  • 01:07:53Now we know we don't need a study
  • 01:07:55to know that exposure matters.
  • 01:07:57An interview can't stay home and
  • 01:07:59work from home like most of us.
  • 01:08:02And you have to be out there.
  • 01:08:04Yes,
  • 01:08:04you're going to be more exposed.
  • 01:08:07And I can just watch what's
  • 01:08:09happening at the grocery store.
  • 01:08:12The workers overtime just relax and all
  • 01:08:15of a sudden you got mask as a beard,
  • 01:08:18masks hanging off one ear.
  • 01:08:20Half mask the nose out.
  • 01:08:22And because they're getting comfortable
  • 01:08:24with their friends and their
  • 01:08:26watching what's happening in Florida?
  • 01:08:28We are in trouble.
  • 01:08:29We have no national plan and
  • 01:08:31we have active efforts that are
  • 01:08:34discouraging people from actually
  • 01:08:35practicing the mitigation behaviors.
  • 01:08:38So, so I think that's part of the problem.
  • 01:08:42The answer we got data streams coming
  • 01:08:45with phone mobility mask usage.
  • 01:08:47There are some companies collecting
  • 01:08:49this data.
  • 01:08:50I've not seen it harvested yet in a
  • 01:08:53way that says. Here's an action step.
  • 01:08:56But I'm going to also say that
  • 01:08:58we don't need another randomized
  • 01:09:00trial to help people practice
  • 01:09:03the mitigation behaviors.
  • 01:09:05Here's my question.
  • 01:09:06If we're now to a point where I can tell
  • 01:09:10you where the covid infections are,
  • 01:09:12were the zip code where they're dying.
  • 01:09:16Am I also making sure that there's kovit
  • 01:09:18test sites in those same zip codes?
  • 01:09:21That would be the logical thing, right?
  • 01:09:23That's not the case.
  • 01:09:25You'll find a mismatch.
  • 01:09:26You would think that if I'm showing
  • 01:09:28you a zip code where we have increased
  • 01:09:32community spread an infection,
  • 01:09:33I would think that we would be re
  • 01:09:36doubling our efforts right now to
  • 01:09:38make sure that there's flu vaccine clinics,
  • 01:09:41mobile clinics in those neighborhoods.
  • 01:09:43Do you think that's happening right now?
  • 01:09:48Who would put money on the table that were
  • 01:09:51pre pre positioning flu vaccine clinics in
  • 01:09:54the very zip codes where we know Cove it is.
  • 01:09:57It is not systematic as a patchwork.
  • 01:10:00We are in trouble and it's an institution
  • 01:10:03like yours that can make a difference.
  • 01:10:05If our clinical researchers of our
  • 01:10:08comprehensive Cancer Center director's
  • 01:10:10came together with some improvement
  • 01:10:12or to say this is unacceptable,
  • 01:10:14we gotta do better.
  • 01:10:16We have to do different.
  • 01:10:18We have to let the resources follow the data.
  • 01:10:23That's what we need.
  • 01:10:24We're going to speak up.
  • 01:10:26People were not used to being
  • 01:10:28in that political space.
  • 01:10:29We must be were being dragged into it and
  • 01:10:32now the time to do that as an ethical.
  • 01:10:36Obligation.
  • 01:10:37Well,
  • 01:10:38that that brings it back.
  • 01:10:39Certainly the purpose of this night
  • 01:10:41and this group is that that that the.
  • 01:10:45There is the the ethical obligation to
  • 01:10:47apply the science to apply the Public
  • 01:10:50Health Science in a manner that's
  • 01:10:52effective and more equitable is paramount.
  • 01:10:54I mean, it's something that that we
  • 01:10:56certainly have not yet not yet achieved,
  • 01:10:59not yet done as well as we need to.
  • 01:11:02I want to pass a couple more
  • 01:11:04questions on too.
  • 01:11:05So first someone asked a very
  • 01:11:07straightforward question,
  • 01:11:08which is I have the beauty salons
  • 01:11:11worked as well with women.
  • 01:11:13You know the women have been so
  • 01:11:16far ahead of us than the women
  • 01:11:18have been doing breast cancer
  • 01:11:19screening through beauty salons.
  • 01:11:21There's a whole range of issues where
  • 01:11:24the women have done a really great job.
  • 01:11:27We have a book chapter that's
  • 01:11:29coming out a second edition of a
  • 01:11:32book chapter that describes the
  • 01:11:34whole beauty salon and Barber
  • 01:11:36shop initiative in great detail.
  • 01:11:38And the current chapter.
  • 01:11:39I'll make sure doctor Mercurio
  • 01:11:41mixture that you had that share.
  • 01:11:43Thanks. Will be sure to will
  • 01:11:45be sure to post it then on our
  • 01:11:48website. But what happens is
  • 01:11:49we go through these waves.
  • 01:11:50We go threw away Vevo breast cancer
  • 01:11:53outreach and their litter is long
  • 01:11:54and then the money drives up the
  • 01:11:56grants cool white and we leave.
  • 01:11:58And then we go it again and
  • 01:12:01we can't keep doing that.
  • 01:12:03My point again, on an ethical obligation.
  • 01:12:06It is our institutions that have a
  • 01:12:08responsibility to maintain trusting
  • 01:12:10relationships in these communities so
  • 01:12:12that our investigators don't have to
  • 01:12:15start all over again every single time.
  • 01:12:17The beauty salons have been an outstanding
  • 01:12:20place and that's where we did our
  • 01:12:22work on the environmental hazards
  • 01:12:24of exposure to endocrine disrupting
  • 01:12:26chemicals in hair care products.
  • 01:12:28We did that in the beauty salon
  • 01:12:30and we found that those salons
  • 01:12:33serving African American women,
  • 01:12:35but this stylist.
  • 01:12:36Had endocrine disrupting chemicals
  • 01:12:38in their expired urine 7 times
  • 01:12:40greater than the general population,
  • 01:12:42so it has implications for air handling
  • 01:12:44implications for a whole range of things.
  • 01:12:47And guess what that was pre
  • 01:12:49kovid now in the kovit space.
  • 01:12:51We also have implications for
  • 01:12:53what air handling you know.
  • 01:12:55Should we have UV lights in the
  • 01:12:57Barber shops and beauty thoughts?
  • 01:12:59It is a practice or profession
  • 01:13:02that you cannot do 6 feet away.
  • 01:13:06Next
  • 01:13:06question. This is actually very
  • 01:13:08interesting so that they ask
  • 01:13:09what process weather rolling in.
  • 01:13:11So I gotta move this for scrolls down.
  • 01:13:13What process interesting what the
  • 01:13:14process that led to the determination
  • 01:13:16that Barber shops would be a pipeline
  • 01:13:18to the African American community.
  • 01:13:19Since they have so much trust in it
  • 01:13:21'cause it's so if this were to be
  • 01:13:24replicated in other communities such
  • 01:13:25as the Native American or the Latin X,
  • 01:13:27how would researchers and
  • 01:13:28physicians find the appropriate fit?
  • 01:13:30So how did you know it was the Barber shops?
  • 01:13:32And so if we can use that in
  • 01:13:34the other communities as well?
  • 01:13:36So again established that Bridget
  • 01:13:37trust that you've.
  • 01:13:38Pointed out is is the important
  • 01:13:40missing ingredient here.
  • 01:13:41I'm
  • 01:13:42sure there are people in the
  • 01:13:44audience have driven by urban
  • 01:13:46neighborhoods and seen a Barber shop,
  • 01:13:48so there was a Barber shop.
  • 01:13:50So let me just say this,
  • 01:13:52don't go out and do this without training.
  • 01:13:55It looks simple, it's complicated,
  • 01:13:57is complex. It takes time,
  • 01:13:59but for me as a member of that community,
  • 01:14:02I was sitting in the Barber shop
  • 01:14:04and somebody came in that people
  • 01:14:06hadn't seen for awhile and.
  • 01:14:08And Mark, but I have to tell you.
  • 01:14:11How can I explain this to you?
  • 01:14:14It is not like Supercuts or hair Cutler,
  • 01:14:16you might might.
  • 01:14:16My white friends say I I had my
  • 01:14:19appointment at 2:00 o'clock.
  • 01:14:20I show up at 2:00 o'clock.
  • 01:14:21I'm out in 15 ten 1015 minutes.
  • 01:14:23I don't even talk in the last
  • 01:14:26thing I've ever say is to ask
  • 01:14:28my stylus anything about health.
  • 01:14:30So what I'm trying to explain to
  • 01:14:32them is that the Black Partnership is
  • 01:14:35like is like a community gathering.
  • 01:14:38There are multiple TV's in these shops.
  • 01:14:40Guess what?
  • 01:14:41They're all on to different
  • 01:14:43stations and the music playing.
  • 01:14:45You follow me so far,
  • 01:14:47so you're walking into a cacophony of sound.
  • 01:14:50Everybody's talking and I remember a
  • 01:14:52guy came in, uh, to protect them all.
  • 01:14:55Just calling Joe people,
  • 01:14:56said Joe,
  • 01:14:57where you been and Joe says he
  • 01:15:00was in the hospital.
  • 01:15:02That they took him to the emergency
  • 01:15:04room and they kept him for five days.
  • 01:15:07They said he had had a heart attack,
  • 01:15:09and so while Joe's talking in the music's
  • 01:15:12on in the TV's on that people are listening,
  • 01:15:15then Joe gets in the chair.
  • 01:15:18And then there's an intimacy in that chair.
  • 01:15:21I think that what I've come to realize
  • 01:15:23that that that sound is a shielder intimacy,
  • 01:15:26assure protection of privacy,
  • 01:15:28'cause you're out in the open,
  • 01:15:30but you're, you're literally.
  • 01:15:32In the person's ear, as the Barber,
  • 01:15:35and so there talking.
  • 01:15:36And Joe pulls out.
  • 01:15:38Bile appeals, and he said.
  • 01:15:40My doctor told me I have to take
  • 01:15:43these the rest of my life.
  • 01:15:45Now everybody in the barbershop listed now.
  • 01:15:48And the Barber says Joe,
  • 01:15:50if you take those pills,
  • 01:15:52you won't be able to keep up
  • 01:15:55your obligations.
  • 01:15:56Now Karen, the camera don't explain
  • 01:15:59what obligations mean. No you don't.
  • 01:16:03Mark I realized at that moment.
  • 01:16:09If you erect how this function is
  • 01:16:11one of the side effects of some of
  • 01:16:14these hypertension drugs, drugs.
  • 01:16:15But I realized when that Barber said Joe,
  • 01:16:18if you take those pills,
  • 01:16:19you won't be able to keep up your obligation.
  • 01:16:21Joe is not taking those pills.
  • 01:16:22I saw that on his face.
  • 01:16:25And his Doctor has no idea that
  • 01:16:27there somebody in the community,
  • 01:16:29but that kind of influence.
  • 01:16:32I said,
  • 01:16:33what if that Barbara was was working with us?
  • 01:16:37What is that Barber said, Hey Joe,
  • 01:16:40if you're experiencing side effects,
  • 01:16:41tell your doctor they can adjust the
  • 01:16:44medication, knows they can do things,
  • 01:16:46don't hide it.
  • 01:16:47And that's where the idea about her.
  • 01:16:50I came to life.
  • 01:16:51And what we realized is that
  • 01:16:53these barbers feel like they
  • 01:16:55are stewards of their community.
  • 01:16:57They feel like they are shepherds.
  • 01:17:00I went children come in to get
  • 01:17:02their first haircut is some big deal.
  • 01:17:04People are there with cameras.
  • 01:17:06And I'm watching this father places
  • 01:17:08child in the chair for his first haircut,
  • 01:17:10and I'm listening to them talk and I'm
  • 01:17:13picking up on the fact that that Barber
  • 01:17:15Cut the father's hair at the same age.
  • 01:17:19That's the relationship they have.
  • 01:17:21They have that Marcus Welby.
  • 01:17:24Neighborhood relationship that
  • 01:17:25doctors want and have lossed,
  • 01:17:27and that's what her is all
  • 01:17:29about and what we have learned.
  • 01:17:31Mark is that when we bring the medical
  • 01:17:34professionals into the barbershop,
  • 01:17:36they love it.
  • 01:17:37They say This is why I became a doctor.
  • 01:17:40This is why I became a nurse.
  • 01:17:43It reinvigorates their passion for
  • 01:17:45why they came into the profession,
  • 01:17:47what we have to do is create
  • 01:17:49that space to make it easy for
  • 01:17:52them to come into those venues.
  • 01:17:55And that's how her was launched.
  • 01:17:57And there are fledging little
  • 01:17:59projects around the country.
  • 01:18:00New England Journal did a major randomized
  • 01:18:03clinical trial proving that it works,
  • 01:18:05but you know how it works.
  • 01:18:07Mark.
  • 01:18:07We do the trial, we prove it works.
  • 01:18:10We write the paper.
  • 01:18:12The grants done, we leave.
  • 01:18:15What works,
  • 01:18:16what can save lives is living
  • 01:18:19in our journals.
  • 01:18:20So at the University of Maryland,
  • 01:18:23Center for HealthEquity are
  • 01:18:24focuses on what we call 4th
  • 01:18:27generation disparities research.
  • 01:18:29It is translating the science of Medicine
  • 01:18:31and public health into culturally tailored,
  • 01:18:34community based interventions.
  • 01:18:35And her is just one example of
  • 01:18:38our community based intervention.
  • 01:18:40We have built a clinic out in the
  • 01:18:43inner city here in in Maryland,
  • 01:18:45near the District of Columbia
  • 01:18:47Line and we turned an overflow
  • 01:18:49parking lot into an urban farm.
  • 01:18:52So when the doctor tells you
  • 01:18:54you need to exercise eat better,
  • 01:18:56we gotta farm outside growing
  • 01:18:58food and the teaching kitchen.
  • 01:19:00We've need to re imagine how we build
  • 01:19:03back in ways that we get out of our silos.
  • 01:19:08And be present in the
  • 01:19:10neighborhoods where people live.
  • 01:19:12It's It's it was such a brilliant
  • 01:19:14insight 'cause one could have
  • 01:19:15easily done what I suspect many do,
  • 01:19:17which is to say that to tell people,
  • 01:19:19don't listen to your Barber.
  • 01:19:21Listen to your doctor but instead
  • 01:19:22the brilliant insight that you
  • 01:19:24had in the folks who started.
  • 01:19:25This whole project was, well,
  • 01:19:26why don't we make sure the Barber
  • 01:19:28really knows what he's talking about
  • 01:19:30is if they're going to listen to him,
  • 01:19:32let's help him understand
  • 01:19:33what he's talking about.
  • 01:19:34You know,
  • 01:19:34so that he so they give some good
  • 01:19:36advice about the pills because it's
  • 01:19:38going to be a trusted source of advice
  • 01:19:40and Mark. Like I said,
  • 01:19:41there are some programs.
  • 01:19:43That have taken this effort and it's OK.
  • 01:19:45We're going to teach the barbers
  • 01:19:47to do the blood pressures.
  • 01:19:49In fact, the randomized clinical
  • 01:19:50trial talking about had the
  • 01:19:52barbers doing the blood pressures.
  • 01:19:54We do not do that.
  • 01:19:56We do not believe that the Barber should be
  • 01:19:59involved in doing clinical assessments. Why?
  • 01:20:02Because the burden of disease is so great.
  • 01:20:07We have literally, when we've had
  • 01:20:09the physicians and doing screen.
  • 01:20:10We have literally sent people
  • 01:20:12immediately to the emergency room.
  • 01:20:13Well where the doctor says, I cannot
  • 01:20:15ethically allow you to leave my presence.
  • 01:20:18You have to bring a family member
  • 01:20:19here on World College squad.
  • 01:20:21Your blood pressure is stroke level.
  • 01:20:24And the person just walking
  • 01:20:26around not knowing it.
  • 01:20:27So the last thing you want is a Barber
  • 01:20:30taking that malignant hypertension pressure.
  • 01:20:32Here's the other thing we've learned, mark.
  • 01:20:36The health professionals When we
  • 01:20:41first took him into the shops,
  • 01:20:43they would walk around with their.
  • 01:20:47Computers, their purses.
  • 01:20:49Check in, is my car still there?
  • 01:20:53And I realize that.
  • 01:20:55The everybody you know all the
  • 01:20:57black people are watching this.
  • 01:20:59What are they afraid of?
  • 01:21:00Kind of a thing.
  • 01:21:01And then I'm realizing that OK,
  • 01:21:03we gotta do some orientation.
  • 01:21:05We can't just let him come
  • 01:21:07in afraid we gotta do.
  • 01:21:08Orientation help folk deal
  • 01:21:10with their own fears,
  • 01:21:11their own biases to understand this natural.
  • 01:21:13'cause some of these neighborhoods are
  • 01:21:15reading about in the paper with all these
  • 01:21:18negative negative things happening.
  • 01:21:19But once we put the the orientation in place,
  • 01:21:23I am telling you more the health
  • 01:21:26professionals were transformed an I
  • 01:21:28think that's exactly what we need.
  • 01:21:30This is not something you can do
  • 01:21:33your city training, you know.
  • 01:21:35Go online and take the quiz.
  • 01:21:37This is not that. This is a long term life.
  • 01:21:41Life long commitment to self reflection
  • 01:21:44in that is how we avoid a future.
  • 01:21:47Tuskegee. We're not going to do.
  • 01:21:49Everything right,
  • 01:21:50but if we commit ourselves to
  • 01:21:53self reflection.
  • 01:21:54If we commit ourselves to doing the
  • 01:21:57right thing for the right reason,
  • 01:21:58if we commit ourselves to not building
  • 01:22:01our careers off the suffering of the people,
  • 01:22:03I think we can make a difference.
  • 01:22:06And that we recognize that it is not
  • 01:22:08enough to do your research and show.
  • 01:22:11Here's a problem. This is a hot spot.
  • 01:22:13And then it's somebody elses job to fix it.
  • 01:22:17We have left that community as
  • 01:22:19a hotspot marked.
  • 01:22:19You want to buy a house in a hotspot?
  • 01:22:21I don't.
  • 01:22:22Karen,
  • 01:22:22do you wanna open up your business
  • 01:22:25in a hotspot?
  • 01:22:26I don't so even our language
  • 01:22:28when we're trying to help.
  • 01:22:30The community can stigmatize the community.
  • 01:22:33This is,
  • 01:22:33This
  • 01:22:33is why I'm so pleased this
  • 01:22:35is being recorded now.
  • 01:22:36I'll remind the folks in the audience know,
  • 01:22:38because the last the last two minutes
  • 01:22:41or something that I want to go back
  • 01:22:43and look again at a couple times
  • 01:22:44and listen to a couple of times,
  • 01:22:46I'm going to Scroll down
  • 01:22:48and find another question.
  • 01:22:49But I gotta go through about
  • 01:22:50100 people who really pissed off
  • 01:22:52with Mr Green's doctor. So if
  • 01:22:54I can get past them, well, let me tell
  • 01:22:56you about those people mad at Mr Green.
  • 01:22:58'cause every time I show this doctor,
  • 01:23:00yeah, the doctor.
  • 01:23:01Every time I show particularly have
  • 01:23:02medical professionals, they're all upset.
  • 01:23:04Nobody knows Mr Green.
  • 01:23:05Nobody is Mr Green.
  • 01:23:06Mr Heart Doctor, Archer,
  • 01:23:07but the reality is they all know a doctor.
  • 01:23:10Are they all know somebody like that?
  • 01:23:13And we just have to admit.
  • 01:23:16That Doctor Archer is a clinical
  • 01:23:19researcher his his thing is not
  • 01:23:21going to get people in this trial.
  • 01:23:23He's thinking that when
  • 01:23:24Doctor Mr Green comes in,
  • 01:23:26he's ready for the trial.
  • 01:23:29Doctor Archer has no idea
  • 01:23:31that emergency rooms, a mess.
  • 01:23:32He has no idea people can't pay
  • 01:23:34for these cystoscopy as screening.
  • 01:23:36That's not his job and now I'm
  • 01:23:39trying to tell him if you want
  • 01:23:41to get these clinical trials and
  • 01:23:43have diverse patient populations,
  • 01:23:45how your hospital system treats them matters.
  • 01:23:47You gotta care about that too.
  • 01:23:50Yeah,
  • 01:23:50you know, and of course those of
  • 01:23:52us who don't do a lot of clinical
  • 01:23:54research but work in the clinical
  • 01:23:55clinical arena recognize the exact
  • 01:23:57same thing and and and so much of it.
  • 01:24:00It's so much of it comes
  • 01:24:01down to taking the time.
  • 01:24:03And of course one of the things
  • 01:24:04is watching this at this guys.
  • 01:24:06This guys gotta get 8 patient signed
  • 01:24:08up its subjects, not patient states
  • 01:24:09subject signed up before lunch.
  • 01:24:11And then he's Gotta Rock
  • 01:24:12and roll through this.
  • 01:24:13He doesn't have time.
  • 01:24:14Just telling this guy that he's
  • 01:24:16not going to survive this disease,
  • 01:24:18and maybe this requires
  • 01:24:19more than 10 seconds, you
  • 01:24:20know? So that was conversation one.
  • 01:24:22And listen all based on real transcripts.
  • 01:24:24That really did happen.
  • 01:24:26Then we put doctor Archer through
  • 01:24:28the building trust training,
  • 01:24:30and then there's a Part 2 and
  • 01:24:32the actual amount of time the
  • 01:24:34interaction is the same amount of
  • 01:24:36time but with active listening.
  • 01:24:39Doctor Archer shakes his hand.
  • 01:24:41Doctor Archer let him tell his
  • 01:24:44story without interrupting him.
  • 01:24:46It did not take anymore time.
  • 01:24:47It's all about attitude and approach.
  • 01:24:49It can be learned well.
  • 01:24:50That's huge because I would
  • 01:24:52have said, Well, you need to give
  • 01:24:54it about 10 times as much time as
  • 01:24:56you're given that you're telling
  • 01:24:58me is that if you do it right,
  • 01:25:00you may not need so much more time.
  • 01:25:02And I also think it's important
  • 01:25:04that when the community comes to us,
  • 01:25:06when doctor Archer learned about what Mr.
  • 01:25:08Green's experience was in the ER,
  • 01:25:10he should take it as his responsibility
  • 01:25:12representing the institution.
  • 01:25:13I'm going to look into that for you,
  • 01:25:15Mr Green. I'm gonna find out
  • 01:25:17why there was such a delay.
  • 01:25:18I'm going to find out why you had to come
  • 01:25:21out of your own pocket to raise the money.
  • 01:25:24For that, cystoscopy show that
  • 01:25:26you can be an advocate for him.
  • 01:25:28That's what we can do.
  • 01:25:30All my friends out there who
  • 01:25:32have privileged color white
  • 01:25:33privilege called medical call.
  • 01:25:35Whatever privilege you have,
  • 01:25:37we all have privilege.
  • 01:25:39We need to use that privilege.
  • 01:25:41In the interest of the most disadvantaged.
  • 01:25:46Thank
  • 01:25:47you so much. We have just a minute
  • 01:25:49left and there's one so many.
  • 01:25:51So much of this are just things
  • 01:25:53saying what a wonderful talk it was.
  • 01:25:56An also and thanking you.
  • 01:25:57But I have one comment here in particular.
  • 01:26:00Then I'll read and this will be
  • 01:26:02the last question that will do,
  • 01:26:04and it may require a longer response,
  • 01:26:06but I'll ask you to at least
  • 01:26:08briefly response, but if you can,
  • 01:26:10your work is profoundly inspirational to me.
  • 01:26:13Thank you.
  • 01:26:13I'm wondering if you can speak at all,
  • 01:26:16but how the dual epidemics of
  • 01:26:18COVID-19 and police brutality have
  • 01:26:19impacted African American communities?
  • 01:26:21Have the Barber shops provided
  • 01:26:22a safe space for dialogue,
  • 01:26:24social support,
  • 01:26:25and advocacy for both epidemics.
  • 01:26:27Why I think that it's a very very
  • 01:26:31good question because it is the
  • 01:26:34confluence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • 01:26:37The disproportion burden on racial
  • 01:26:39ethnic minority communities exposing
  • 01:26:41that longstanding health disparities.
  • 01:26:44And then the racial reckoning
  • 01:26:47in our country, that is.
  • 01:26:49That has created the space for
  • 01:26:51fundamental change fundamental change.
  • 01:26:54So let me tell you something else
  • 01:26:56about the barbershop that's very,
  • 01:26:58very interesting and different.
  • 01:26:59Very different than the church.
  • 01:27:03I've been in the barbershop where
  • 01:27:05there's been a sitting judge.
  • 01:27:09A man who works on the
  • 01:27:12loading dock at Safeway.
  • 01:27:14An unemployed person Anna homeless man.
  • 01:27:18All sitting together.
  • 01:27:21Where does that happen?
  • 01:27:23Very few places.
  • 01:27:24That's why the space I call it sacred space.
  • 01:27:30So as we begin thinking about
  • 01:27:31how do we work in Barber shops,
  • 01:27:33how do we globalize how we do our thing?
  • 01:27:35Whatever we do, let's not break it.
  • 01:27:37Let's not break.
  • 01:27:39This is one of the few places mark where
  • 01:27:43I've heard black men simply belly laugh.
  • 01:27:47Out loud not lol but really laugh out
  • 01:27:50loud in real life so we have brought
  • 01:27:53mental health professionals in.
  • 01:27:54We've done mental health counseling in the
  • 01:27:57shops in privacy with creative privacy space.
  • 01:28:00And one of the shops we renovated, the shop.
  • 01:28:04We did PSA blood draws and Rectal
  • 01:28:07digital exams in the barbershop
  • 01:28:09for prostate cancer screening.
  • 01:28:11It's a tremendous way of impacting a culture.
  • 01:28:16And then we asked the barbers their
  • 01:28:18thoughts about how we improve things,
  • 01:28:21and they have really,
  • 01:28:22really good ideas.
  • 01:28:24So I think that if we had
  • 01:28:27white police officers.
  • 01:28:28Get their hair cut in a black Barber shop.
  • 01:28:33Maybe the next time they stop a
  • 01:28:35black man they won't think of a
  • 01:28:38thug as the very first thing.
  • 01:28:40They may think, hey, that could be Jimmy.
  • 01:28:43That could be my Barber that could be Fred.
  • 01:28:48That could be Mike.
  • 01:28:49Get over the fear and if we don't create
  • 01:28:52spaces where we're mixing like that,
  • 01:28:55I think that as a country we're in trouble.
  • 01:28:58But COVID-19 is opened up an
  • 01:29:01opportunity as we come back.
  • 01:29:03Better to do so in a way that we make
  • 01:29:06these spaces places where we save lives.
  • 01:29:10I'm broke into the of the spectrum.
  • 01:29:14Fantastic thank you so much.
  • 01:29:15Our time is up.
  • 01:29:16This has been a Marvel seeding
  • 01:29:18as I thought it would but you
  • 01:29:19have exceeded expectations.
  • 01:29:20Professor Thomas.
  • 01:29:21This has been marvelous.
  • 01:29:22We're going to post some of the
  • 01:29:23information is this talk is also
  • 01:29:25going to be available in the website
  • 01:29:27and this is the part where I hand
  • 01:29:28you a couple of Yale souvenirs but
  • 01:29:30instead were going to Mail him.
  • 01:29:32And this is the part when I go out
  • 01:29:34with you in a couple of the group
  • 01:29:36and we get a nice meal and we're
  • 01:29:38going to have to put that on hold.
  • 01:29:40But remember that when we owe you
  • 01:29:41'cause we sure do appreciate this.
  • 01:29:43This was terrific. Thank you so much.
  • 01:29:45It's
  • 01:29:45been an honor and a pleasure.
  • 01:29:46Thank you very very much. Bye bye OK,
  • 01:29:49well we'll sign off and.
  • 01:29:52Thank you all. Will see you next time.