The Center for Minority Health at the University of Pittsburgh aims to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities especially in the areas of diabetes and hypertension. One avenue for eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities is through biomedical and public health research. The CMH strives to increase African American participation in research through community outreach programs including the Healthy Black Family Project. The HBFP is a community based intervention created to promote health and prevent disease through lifestyle behavior change in the African American community in Pittsburgh. The present study recruited individuals from the HBFP for focus groups to assess the perceptions of African Americans in the Pittsburgh area toward genetics and genetics research. Specifically, the study sought to characterize the willingness of African Americans to donate DNA for research examining the roles of genes and environment in disease development. The CMH is interested in this research because it has been suggested that uncovering the genetic and environmental contributions to common diseases such as diabetes and hypertension may help illuminate causes of racial and ethnic health disparities and allow for more effective strategies for prevention and treatment.
Transcripts from four focus groups attended by 43 people were read and coded using thematic analysis. Findings suggest participants are acutely aware of potential negative consequences of donating genetic material however, cautious optimism was expressed when discussing benefits of research. Additionally, the results suggest that researchers must actively work to build trust with potential research participants to increase willingness to participate. The findings also suggest a strong association of the term genetics with family history, a limited understanding of the biological aspects of genetics, and a sensationalized view of genetics research. These last three issues may be addressed through a genetics education outreach program. This study is relevant to the field of public health because it provides researchers with direction in their effort to better characterize the willingness of African Americans to donate DNA for genetics research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04122007-193007 |
| Date | 27 June 2007 |
| Creators | Slattery, Leah Nicole |
| Contributors | Stephen B. Thomas, PhD, Robin E. Grubs, PhD, CGC, Elizabeth A. Gettig, MS, CGC, James Butler, PhD |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04122007-193007/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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