Submitted:
06 March 2025
Posted:
06 March 2025
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Abstract
Background Under-representation of Muslim ethnic minorities and their mistrust in health research are known barriers to achieving digital health equity. Therefore, this study aimed to understand determinants of Muslim communities’ mistrust in digital health research and explore potential approaches to address this and increase their participation in health research. MethodsThis study employed a constructivist grounded theory design, involving focus groups with Muslim ethnic minorities living in the United Kingdom. We conducted nine focus groups in mosques, co-moderated by a digital health researcher and an Imam. Findings Muslim ethnic minorities had several negative perceptions about digital health research, which were mainly influenced by lack of their awareness about the purpose and conduct of research. They felt excluded from health research and did not perceive taking part as beneficial to them or their community. These were exacerbated by how research findings related to Muslim ethnic minorities in the UK were used or shared in public spaces (e.g., by media outlets or healthcare providers). Participants suggested that Imams and mosques could play a role in addressing these negative perceptions by raising awareness among their communities using digital resources (e.g., bite size videos, social media community groups) and during regular gatherings. ConclusionNegative perceptions about health research are common among Muslim communities, which are further exacerbated by the way research findings related to South Asians are discussed in public spaces. Despite this, there is a potential of building the Muslim community’s trust and improve their participation in health research if health researchers work collaboratively with mosques or Imams and leverage community-based networks and resources.
Keywords:
Introduction
Methods
Public Involvement Group
Ethics Approval
Participants and Recruitment
Data Collection and Analysis
Findings
Participant Characteristics
Determinants Shaping Mistrust in Digital Health Research
- (a)
- Conception of health research in the context of other systemic inequities
“This is the first research group in this mosque, but in the past we had so many different medical teams who used to come here regularly to talk to people, like so many”.
“…I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but sometimes you don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist for a conspiracy to be proven true. For example, some research was conducted without the knowledge of somebody [referring to news about research in Africa]”
“…the South Asian community here…when…any new thing is happening…most of the people think the agenda’s setting against us…they have such mindset regarding this”
“How does the general public in the UK trust the data being collected. So, it's not just something specific to the [South] Asian community, some of the grievances, the apprehensions people have…how your data is being collected, who's it being shared by, you know, all these fears…so what's happening with that data. So, those grievances are there, and I think they're probably more important than the cultural ones”
“The media outlets tend to publish these papers and they misinform so that’s one of the key things, for example, the situation with the vaccines…there is a mistrust”
“…during the corona time, there were people having conspiracies of, look, in terms of these ethnic minorities, how is there a great disparity between those ethnic minorities as compared to the white population? then they thought about the credibility of research as well”.
“You hear something…on the mainstream media…as an example, all about AI… everyone watches the mainstream media, and are aware of it, et cetera. So, they might have some apprehensions from what they see in the mainstream about technology, and then they’ve taken that on board, and maybe when approached regarding, sort of, research, they might think, well I've seen something on the news and it says, don't do this”.
“I don’t think that’s…with health, I think a lot of times they’re stating facts but because the Asians, a lot of us, not all of us, have such a big ego that everything…and because of what’s happened in the past as well with the experience here of racism, everything is racist to them…”
“So, it's been shown that [artificial intelligence], for example, facial recognition, what we find is that it disproportionately targets certain ethnic minorities, because of the data that’s been put into it, and the parameters that are being used to adapt…the algorithms”.
“…I always get asked this from my parents, about diabetes research. Now, if you go to a local doctor, he'll tell you, 60, Asian…diabetes guaranteed. But when you look at your grandparents, they didn’t have diabetes, so what do you mean, it's guaranteed? So, we find sometimes the research is done in such a way that, it negatively impacts our communities.”
- (b)
- Perception of being excluded
“I think the lack of opportunity is one… if you’re working in a certain occupation, you might not have that access compared to somebody who’s probably in a university setting or in a research setting. For example, working with NHS [National Health Service], it might be different to somebody who’s maybe like an Uber driver…When it comes to research purposes, they might not get the same opportunity”.
“if…you have an educational background, in the sense that you’re part of a university or you’ve graduated from university, these people are probably more inclined to participate…as opposed to perhaps somebody who… let’s say when they were 18, they went into work straightaway”.
“…a big problem we have is, elderly people, generally, are not able to access it [technology]. And it actually puts them off…and I think that gets missed in the data that’s represented…and only what compounds the problem is, our elderly sometimes can't read English as well…”
“…many women in our communities, generally still tend to have traditional roles, so they're staying at home…so, perhaps, looking into…Zoom meetings, and the like, would be better to conduct research with them. As opposed to hoping that they'd be able to turn up to a mosque, or a centre, or a church, and then speak to them there”.
“It is a hard work communicating with my own children in Urdu. The only time I use Urdu is when I speak with my beloved mother and my elderly relatives out of respect and out of the etiquette. Other than that, my brothers and sisters…my kids, my nephew and nieces all are English (speaking), so if that’s happening in my household, I think that’s absolutely evident throughout the whole country…”
- (c)
- Perception that taking part will not benefit them or their community
“…for example, [if] it’s someone who is non-Muslim, he wants to come to the mosque and he presents himself in front of the people, they’re [people are] going to be, like, oh, they’re [researchers are] just doing it for their own benefit…they’re not going to have that trust.”
I'm not talking to you [researchers conducting focus group] but, you know, when someone comes to you and says, I’ve got research, what’s the…you know, somebody wants to prove a point, is that right, and they're trying to build a caseload, they're trying to build evidence in order for their objective to be fulfilled.
“You think that you're going to get undervalued or not valued enough and…so therefore you'd rather not speak”
“thinking of…data leakages, I think…is it a societal thing at the moment that…we don’t know what’s going to happen to our…not just data but…yeah, our views and whether those views can be used to…like, what’s your [research’s] ulterior motive?”
Approaches to Building Trust and Promoting Participation in (Digital) Health Research
- (a)
- For mosques and Imams
- (b)
- For researchers and research institutes
Discussion
Conclusions
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflict of Interest
References
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| Variables | Number (percentage) |
|---|---|
| Gender | |
| Male | 58 (88) |
| Female | 8 (12) |
| Age (years) | |
| 18 – 24 | 23 (35) |
| 25 – 34 | 19 (29) |
| 35 – 44 | 14 (21) |
| 45 – 54 | 7 (11) |
| 55 and above | 3 (4) |
| Ethnicity | |
| British Pakistani or Pakistani | 57 (86) |
| British Indian or Indian | 6 (10) |
| Other* | 3 (4) |
| Education | |
| College or University | 33 (50) |
| Post-graduate | 12 (18) |
| Further education | 10 (15) |
| Secondary school | 10 (15) |
| Prefer not to say | 1 (2) |
| Employment status | |
| Full time employed | 31 (47) |
| Student | 13 (20) |
| Self-employed | 9 (14) |
| Part-time employed | 8 (12) |
| Unemployed or volunteering | 5 (7) |
| Type of participants | |
| Community member | 38 (58) |
| Administrative committee member** | 18 (27) |
| Imam | 10 (15) |
| Recommendation | Illustrative quote |
|---|---|
| Trust in Imams should be leveraged to build the community’s trust and promote their participation in health research. | ‘…I think the way you’re going to now conduct this particular research in different masjids [mosques], the only reason why we’re here is because the Imam said so. And I think that’s the most compatible way of doing this…to approach the Imam to approach the people...Speak to the Imam to get people to come and they’ll come because people trust the Imam.’ |
| Mosques should set up working groups under the leadership of Imams to support different research related activities. |
‘We have a few Muslims who work with the NHS…so we can contact them and just involve them and make a team, and we can work as a team’ ‘I was thinking that you could start from a very small group where you have that message across, and then that group can own the participation and then they can spread that message into their own contacts. And that’s how I think you can spread it’ |
| A network of mosques should be established to increase research awareness and participation at a wider scale | ‘.…it would be more effective if there’s a contribution, not just from one mosque, but multiple mosques that talk about the same topic. It would create more awareness…if everyone starts talking about it, they’re going to start listening, they’re going to start going to these researches, and promoting it for the benefit of the Muslim community |
| Five-time prayers and Friday prayer gatherings should be used to promote participation in health research. |
‘Education is a main thing…people need to change their mindset. A lot of the elders you will not get through to them, irrespective, whatever you do…WhatsApp or things on the note board, people are going to come in and not take any notice. Jumma [Friday prayer], they’ll hear it…that is the only communication that will get through to them. |
| Current social media groups managed by mosques or social media in general should be used to disseminate information related to research, including invitation to participate. |
‘…social media plays a massive in our day to day lives. Everyone’s got a mobile phone…And obviously you know when you’re trying to reach out to youngsters in particular…everyone’s on social media’ |
| Educational classes and social gatherings for youth and women should be used to raise awareness about research and provide opportunities to participate in research. |
‘I think we underuse the ladies’ category…the ladies are very willing to do these things voluntarily, because they are not – I don’t mean it in a bad way – they are not there just for the kitchen or washing your clothes and all that, they will actively come more to do this than anybody else. I can give an example, that we have exercise classes on Saturdays and we have ladies coming in from [area name], purely because there is no other place who does the exercise classes for ladies’ |
| Determinant of mistrust | Recommendation | Illustrative quote |
|---|---|---|
| Conception of health research in the context of other systemic inequities |
|
‘there needs to be a greater level of transparency, and bringing the discourse down to a simple man's level, so that everyone understands what the research is about’ ‘…is it going to be face to face, where you might have some slides that explain it, and going through it, and have a Q&A before you start any, sort of, chat. I think that way of engaging individuals. Some people will read through it and say, fine, I understand….there’s a lot of anecdotal fear…If it’s explained openly as you are doing at the moment to say that the information will be anonymised, the information is for medical research…’ ‘…[referring to a participant information sheet used as a prompt] if you’re going to write paragraphs and paragraphs on…then I don’t think it would work. But what would work is perhaps like if it’s bitesize information. For example, videos definitely work, like short clips’ ‘…you [researcher] are going to get the data and you [researcher] are analysing it, you [researcher] are going to come to the conclusion. So, you [researcher] can pass the message onto him [Imam], but I think we want that from you [researcher], that coming back. That’s what your participation is.’ |
| Perception of being excluded |
|
‘You’ll need to upskill the community…because…they might not understand what you actually have to do or how they can use it [technology]. And if they don’t, they’re not going to use it [technology]’. ‘You placed a paper consent form here and we read it…so if those elderly people were sitting here, they would get up straightaway and leave, or they would not have a clue. Not because they don’t understand English, because some people need a briefing as well. That helps to build a bit of trust as well’. ‘If universities need to get the research from the older people or the data…they need to get somebody who’s speaking their language, because they don’t want to come out from their comfort zone. So that way, they will trust more because somebody is speaking their language, they’re bound to maybe answer’. So I think…it’s the human condition, isn't it…We…especially in the society we’re living in, Amazon’s [gift voucher] got a lot to do with it… |
| Perception that taking part will not benefit them or their community |
|
‘There has to be something at the end for you to feel fulfilled …that I took a part in…there was some benefit for me or for the community, there was some fulfilment at the end’. ‘But if you say for instance as an example, look, we know that…from research that’s already been done in the black community that the black community in general are predisposed to sickle cell disorder and as a result of that, this is what we did, these are the extra services we made available…that is how you get people to take part in it.’ |
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