Redesigning trials to be inclusive of people with a learning disability—a practical example

To achieve better health equity and improve the quality of clinical trials, researchers must pay greater attention to accessible study design and ensure appropriate accommodations are in place to enable inclusion of people with a learning disability. We outline some practical strategies that can inform the design and conduct of future trials to improve inclusion.

Authors

Gary Bourlet
Vicky Farnsworth
Rachel Royston (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9901-2284)
Jodie Bradley
Victoria Shepherd (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9473-3237)
Deborah Cairns (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2626-1554)
Anna Mariott
Amy M. Russell
Vaso Totsika
Paul Charlton

Institutions

University of Leeds (GB)
Living with Disability (GB)
The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
Ipswich Hospital (GB)
University College London (GB)
University of Glasgow (GB)
Cardiff University (GB)
Cardiff Metropolitan University (GB)

Publication Details

Journal: Trials
Published: 2026-01-13
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-026-09446-4
Primary Topic: Down syndrome and intellectual disability research
Type: article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact: 0.00

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article

Redesigning trials to be inclusive of people with a learning disability—a practical example

Gary Bourlet, Vicky Farnsworth, Rachel Royston, Jodie Bradley et al.

Jan 13, 2026

Trials

Down syndrome and intellectual disability research

article

Redesigning trials to be inclusive of people with a learning disability—a practical example

Gary Bourlet, Vicky Farnsworth, Rachel Royston, Jodie Bradley, Victoria Shepherd, Deborah Cairns, Anna Mariott, Amy M. Russell, Vaso Totsika, Paul Charlton

January 13, 2026article en

Abstract

To achieve better health equity and improve the quality of clinical trials, researchers must pay greater attention to accessible study design and ensure appropriate accommodations are in place to enable inclusion of people with a learning disability. We outline some practical strategies that can inform the design and conduct of future trials to improve inclusion.

TrialsVol. 27(1)

University of Leeds (GB), Living with Disability (GB), The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust (GB), Ipswich Hospital (GB), University College London (GB), University of Glasgow (GB), Cardiff University (GB), Cardiff Metropolitan University (GB)

Reduced inequalities

Openalex Percentile: Top 90%

Down syndrome and intellectual disability research

DOI Open Access PDF OpenAlex

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Redesigning trials to be inclusive of people with a learning disability—a practical example — Gary Bourlet, Vicky Farnsworth, et al. · Trials (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS