Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2026

Providing multilingual clinical trial information to support communication: A statewide initiative in NSW (146478)

Maria Mury 1 , Lindsey Jasicki 1 , Melissa Minett 1 , Brooke Stapleton 1 , Barbara Daveson 1
  1. Cancer Institute NSW, St Leonards, NSW, Australia

Introduction 

Participation in clinical trials differs across population groups in NSW. Between 2022 and 2024, participation among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations was 3.1%, compared with an overall NSW participation rate of 5.3%.

Providing accessible and culturally responsive information is an important consideration when supporting informed decision-making about clinical trial participation.

Service Description

To support access to clinical trial information, three easy-to-understand, culturally safe and responsive resources were developed in English for people affected by cancer, their families and carers and translated into 20 languages. The translated resources help reduce language barriers, enabling people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities to make informed decisions about clinical trial participation and supporting more representative trial populations.

Evaluation

A mixed-methods evaluation examined implementation between January 2022 and June 2024. Quantitative measures included resource access statistics, clinical trial participation data and interpreter use to provide contextual information on access and communication supports for CALD populations. Qualitative feedback was collected through progress reports from local health districts and clinical trial units on resource use in practice.

Outcomes

  • The translated resources were accessed 326 times during the evaluation period.
  • Three (20%) local health districts reported integrating the resources into clinical settings.
  • Qualitative feedback indicated the resources were used to introduce discussions about clinical trials with CALD patients.
  • Interpreter use among trial participants increased from 2.7% to 3.5% during the evaluation period.

Conclusion

The evaluation describes the implementation and use of multilingual clinical trial information resources across NSW. Findings provide insight into how translated resources are being used within clinical settings and identify opportunities to expand language coverage and resource availability for diverse population groups. Continued monitoring may help identify patterns of resource use, changes in clinical trial participation among CALD populations and inform future resource development.