The BHBIA’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Committee has created new guidelines for pharmaceutical clients, market research and fieldwork agencies to conduct inclusive market research and ensure the final insights accurately reflect the targeted population.

These guidelines, building on the Market Research Society’s (MRS) best practice recommendations, aim to ensure that all participants in healthcare market research are equally valued and that their opinions and attitudes are accurately represented.

Key aspects of the guidelines include:

• Consideration of the respectful and necessary collection of sensitive data, either to ensure it is reflective of the patient population or to support insight generation
• The factors and language which influence how individuals perceive and respond to market research
• Examples of inclusive screening questions for personal characteristics, including age, gender identity, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, health conditions and socioeconomic factors
• Prioritising transparency, respect and adherence to legal and ethical standards and ensuring respondents feel comfortable throughout the process.

Download the guidelines

DE&I has become a central theme in the evolving landscape of healthcare and rightly so. We know people want and expect more inclusive market research and that this can help accelerate equitable treatment and improve patient outcomes. We will continue to review and update our guidelines to ensure they are representative of the changing world around us.