Translating and Adapting Research Bioethical Principles to the African Socio-Cultural Contexts: An Integrative Review

Abstract

Despite growing interest in African bioethics, aligning it with Western bioethical principles remains challenging. This integrated review aimed to develop adaptable research bioethics for African socio-cultural contexts. A comprehensive search yielded 7,175 articles of which 68 were selected for analysis. Only three studies analyzed a framework, but none was adapted in the African socio-cultural contexts. From the 68 papers, six themes emerged, leading to the development of the Socio-Cultural Research Ethics Conceptual Model (SCREM). Translating bioethical principles in Africa is essential for culturally sensitive, inclusive, and equitable research. The SCREM framework is a significant and timely contribution to African bioethics, offering a novel, flexible, context-sensitive approach relevant and applicable to the realities of Africa’s diversity. Future research will validate and refine SCREM to address the unique health research ethical challenges in Africa. This work highlights the importance of culturally tailored bioethics in advancing ethical research in Africa and could profoundly impact bioethics research in Africa and globally.