AQUAS and nine research institutes publish guide to inclusive communication in health research

The Agència de Qualitat i Avaluació Sanitàries de Catalunya (AQUAS) of the Catalan Ministry of Health and nine research institutions in Catalonia, including IRBLleida, have developed the guide Recommendations for inclusive communication in health research, to promote the inclusion of language that promotes the visibility, equality and representativeness of all people and to avoid situations in which the language may contain lexical or forms that make people invisible or discriminate against them.

This instrument - which has been produced in both Catalan and English - contains recommendations applicable to written, oral and visual communication in order to be a support tool for inclusive communication in health research institutions, complementary to the official language guides and style manuals of the institutions.

Inclusive communication is essential to ensure that all people feel represented and valued. Recognising this need, the guide contains examples and strategies of preferable and non-recommended uses, to show its practical application and with the aim of facilitating resources and raising awareness and contributing to the full, respectful and non-discriminatory inclusion of any group and diversity. For this reason, as the authors explain, the document not only includes examples on the treatment of gender, but also other diversities, such as the communicative treatment of disabilities, illnesses and cultural groups.

At the same time, an infographic with key messages has also been presented to provide a more accessible resource. Both documents are aimed at both scientific and administrative staff of these institutions, as well as their management, research system staff, journalists and other interested persons, to provide them with simple and straightforward recommendations in a visual way to explain and disseminate research in an inclusive way, as well as specific advice in different formats and in two languages.

These publications have been developed within the framework of the Hipàtia Community, which works to update policies and management practices, eliminate unconscious bias and promote cultural change and gender mainstreaming in research. Specifically, for this initiative, a working group has been created, coordinated by AQuAS and made up of professionals from the Institute of Biomedical Research of Girona (IDIBGI), the Trias and Pujol Brothers Research Institute (IGTP), the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC), the Hospital de Mar Research Institute (IMIM), the Barcelona Biomedical Research Institute (IRB Barcelona), the Lleida Biomedical Research Institute (IRBLleida), the Sant Pau Research Institute (IIB- Sant Pau), the Parc Taulí Research and Innovation Institute (I3PT) and the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO). The guide has also benefited from the linguistic advice of the Department of Health's Language Planning Service. The graphic design of these materials has been carried out by the social communication agency La Siembra.

More information and documents at this link