Medical research hasn’t always seen you. The All of Us Research Program (All of Us) is changing that.
The NNLM recognizes the importance of diverse representation in biomedical research. That’s because we’re all unique. Here’s why we’re doing something about it. Even if you have the same disease as someone else, the right medicine for you may not be the right medicine for them. Someone from a city may react differently to a treatment than someone from a rural community. A disease may affect someone who is Asian American differently than an African American individual. In order to help researchers understand these differences, we need health information from a diverse group of people.
But medical research hasn’t always been inclusive of everyone living in the United States. Some groups of people have not been included in research in the past. These include racial and ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minorities, and people with disabilities.
This means researchers know less about their health today. This is one reason people in some communities have more health problems than others.
Research into health problems should include diverse communities. That way, the solutions can include everyone, too.
One way to build a better future is by promoting meaningful research that can improve the health of everyone. This means engaging diverse communities in research.
Did you know that 75% of All of Us participants are from communities historically underrepresented in research?
- The All of Us Research Program reflects the rich diversity of our country. The program is committed to including everyone in research. It’s what makes All of Us so unique.
- All of Us wants to include EVERYONE in health research so researchers have the best chance at finding the best way to care for us all.
- Supporting your communities participation in All of Us can speed up health research for groups who have been left out of research in the past.
Why is it important to have diverse representation in medical research?
- The more researchers know about what makes each of us unique, the more tailored our health care can become.
- We're all human, but we’re not all the same. Often our differences – like age, ethnicity, lifestyle habits, or where we live-can reveal important insights about our health.
- With enough diverse health information, researchers can look for answers to some of our hardest health questions. We hope that one day these answers will lead to better treatments as well.
- When we take part in health research, we make sure we can all benefit from future discoveries.
The NAPC is a partnership between National Library of Medicine and All of Us to help diverse communities all over of the United States to participate in biomedical research in and through public libraries.
We work with public libraries to help communities participate in All of Us and to support the health information needs of their communities.
So what's next?
Take a look at the opportunities and resources provided on our website. We have learning activities designed for diverse communities that you can make available on your website. We offer program guides and kits that can be used to promote awareness of All of Us and build skills needed to participate in biomedical research online. And we have funding opportunities to help support actual programs and resources at the local level that participants can use to enroll or participate in research.
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