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Supported decision-making can advance clinical research participation for people with disabilities

Nature Medicine volume 28, pages 2250–2253 (2022)Cite this article

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Clinical research often excludes people with disabilities who have impaired decisional capacity, but they can be included through supported decision-making, where their decisions can be assisted by designated supporters of their choosing. This will promote equitable access to research.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Research Affairs, Mass General Brigham, Boston, MA, USA

    Benjamin C. Silverman

  2. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Benjamin C. Silverman & Barbara E. Bierer

  3. Harvard Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Ari Ne’eman

  4. Harvard Law School Project on Disability, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Ari Ne’eman & Michael Ashley Stein

  5. Lurie Institute for Disability Policy, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA

    Ari Ne’eman

  6. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA

    David H. Strauss

  7. Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA

    David H. Strauss, Willyanne DeCormier Plosky & Barbara E. Bierer

  8. Department of Philosophy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Leslie P. Francis

  9. S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Leslie P. Francis

  10. Division of Global Health Equity, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Barbara E. Bierer

Authors
  1. Benjamin C. Silverman
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  2. Ari Ne’eman
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  3. David H. Strauss
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  4. Willyanne DeCormier Plosky
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  5. Leslie P. Francis
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  6. Michael Ashley Stein
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  7. Barbara E. Bierer
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Contributions

B.C.S., W.D.P. and B.E.B. wrote the original draft. All authors were responsible for conceptualization, review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Benjamin C. Silverman.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

A.N. received consulting fees from CareSource, Inclusa and the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. The analysis presented here was not developed as part of his duties for any of these entities, including the Department of Health and Human Services, and the research, analysis, findings and conclusions were not reviewed by them and do not necessarily represent their views. D.H.S. received consulting fees as an external advisor to the Takeda Pharmaceuticals Ethics Advisory Council.

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Silverman, B.C., Ne’eman, A., Strauss, D.H. et al. Supported decision-making can advance clinical research participation for people with disabilities. Nat Med 28, 2250–2253 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02035-3

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