EDICT CLAS-ACT Project

The EDICT CLAS-ACT (Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services And Clinical Trials) Project – helps researchers and organizations assess how well they implement standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in clinical trials.

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) announced the CLAS standards in 2000. See the following resources for details:

National Standards on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS)
http://www.omhrc.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlID=15

National Standards on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health Care (Final Report)
http://www.omhrc.gov/assets/pdf/checked/finalreport.pdf

National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care (Executive Summary)
http://www.omhrc.gov/assets/pdf/checked/executive.pdf

Normas nacionales para servicios cultural y lingüísticamente apropiados en la atención sanitaria (Resumen ejecutivo)
http://www.omhrc.gov/assets/pdf/checked/spanishexeSum.PDF

CLAS-ACT Self-Assessment Handbook

The CLAS-ACT Self-Assessment Handbook is designed to help you measure how well you currently address CLAS standards in meeting the needs of clinical trials and research participants from various cultural backgrounds. You can use the Self-Assessment in several ways. You can:

• Discuss the Self-Assessment questions with your research staff and administrators to begin the review process and make them aware of the CLAS issues that need to be addressed.
• Complete the Self-Assessment for a current study in order to establish baseline data against which to compare progress implementing CLAS standards in the future.

The Self-Assessment Handbook contains background information, the Self-Assessment questions, and additional resources. The Self-Assessment by itself, without the background material, can be printed and completed.

The EDICT CLAS-ACT Project is funded under Cooperative Agreement Number MPCMP051006-03 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health to the Baylor College of Medicine Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Research Center. The OMH acknowledges the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities for its financial contribution to this effort, and is also grateful to the HHS Office on Women’s Health for its support.

For more information about the EDICT CLAS-ACT Project, please contact Larry Laufman, Ed.D., Project Director, at 713.798.5387 or llaufman@bcm.edu.