Building Multilingual Capacity for Health Research

Through our MURAL programming, the Inclusive Science Program (ISP) provides consultations, resources, and Community Review Board (CRB) services to advance linguistically and culturally inclusive methods in health research studies.

In 2010, bilingual faculty and staff founded the ENLaCE service (Expanding Networks for Latinx^* Communities through Engagement) to promote the inclusion of Spanish-speaking, Latinx populations in health research. In 2019, in recognition of the growing linguistic and cultural diversity in the southeastern U.S., ENLaCE expanded its scope and became MURAL (MUltilingual Research Advancement for heaLth). The MURAL program now equips researchers to engage equitably and effectively with a wide range of non-English speaking populations.

ISP staff and faculty build upon these years of ENLaCE and MURAL programming to offer the following advisory services:

• Pre-award consultations for multilingual research grant proposals (including proposal budgeting, staffing, and recruitment and retention strategies)
• Mid-grant consultations to improve multilingual research implementation
• Post-award consultations for more accessible dissemination of research findings
• Guidance for engaging multilingual community partners in the cultural and linguistic adaptation of interventions

Request a one-on-one consultation with an ISP team member.

Latino/a/x Community Review Board (CRB)

We can help study teams improve the linguistic accuracy and cultural relevancy of their Spanish language study materials such as flyers, survey instruments, and reports. Once study teams have translated their materials to Spanish, ISP facilitates a review of the translated materials by a panel of local Spanish-speaking, Latinx community members. ISP provides study teams with a summary report of the CRB process and a document of suggested revisions, if applicable. Please review the Engaged Research Services list (pdf) for an outline of costs.

To learn about MURAL services, request a one-on-one consultation.

^* English speakers in the U.S. use many terms to describe people with Latin American ancestry and origins. We encourage study teams to ask participants/community members how they define themselves, and to jointly negotiate the appropriate terms for your research reporting. The term "Hispanic" does not originate in Latin America, and it does not include the many Latin Americans who speak primary languages other than Spanish. "Latino" and "Latina" are gendered (masculine and feminine) terms that are used in Latin America to refer to populations from Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. The more recent, gender-inclusive term "Latinx" is used to indicate inclusion of all genders, including girls/women, boys/men, and other genders; "Latine" specifically refers to people with non-binary genders. More common self-identifications reference one's country of origin, such as "Mexican" or "Honduran".