Clinical trials are essential for the development of new medical treatments and devices. However, enrolling patients in clinical trials is one of the most challenging aspects of conducting these studies. This is especially true when it comes to recruiting a diverse and representative patient population.
Patient recruitment and diversity are a challenge
There are many factors that influence a patient’s decision to enroll in a clinical trial. Some of these include the patient’s perception of the trial, the perceived risks and benefits of participating, and the inconvenience of attending in-person study visits.
Medable’s eConsent solution helps to ensure that patients have a better understanding of the trial before enrolling, alleviating some of the concerns that patients may have about participating in a trial. Moreover, remote decentralized clinical trials (DCTs) remove the inconvenience of in-person visits, while remote monitoring can help track side effects.
Medable’s eConsent solution allows patients to review embedded videos, take knowledge checks, and sign their consent remotely - making digital recruitment more effective, efficient, and informative. - Customer
When it comes to diverse patient recruitment, sponsors are more motivated than ever to ensure clinical trials reflect the population impacted by the disease. This is crucial because enrolling are presentative and diverse patient population can help to produce more accurate results.
Clinical trials need to reach a representative patient population, meaning the patients for whom the treatment or medical device is intended.
Creating content for increased enrollment
Sponsors and CROs are actively seeking ways to overcome barriers to enrollment and increase the number of patients who participate in clinical trials.
One way to achieve this is through digital recruitment. By leveraging social media, email marketing, and other online channels, sponsors can reach a wider audience and create stronger connections with potential patients.
Another way to drive enrollment is by writing clear and compelling content to capture the attention of potential patients and help them better understand what participation in a particular trial involves.This means taking a patient-centric approach and remaining mindful of patient diversity and backgrounds, from the language used in the recruitment materials to the way the information is delivered.
Creating accessible and inclusive recruitment content
It’s important to ensure that your recruitment efforts are as inclusive and accessible as possible. Here are a few principles for writing clear and compelling patient recruitment materials.
Simplicity
Keep paragraphs and sentences short and easy to read, so you don’t exclude potential patients. Speak specifically to individual patients as much as possible. This means:
- Being sensitive to the specific needs of patients with a particular condition, as well as patients’ cultural groups, age ranges, and geographic locations.
- Working with community groups, conducting surveys, and performing additional research to help with this personalization.
Tone and text volume are also important when it comes to digital communications. Succinct and welcoming language is far more effective than overloading potential patients with an onslaught of information or technical terms. Avoid using jargon and acronyms, and make sure all content is well-organized and easy to find.
Accuracy
Content should be accurate and up-to-date, with transparency about the potential risks and benefits of participating in a clinical trial. Choose words and phrases that specifically describe your trial needs and clearly convey what participants will be asked to do and how they will be supported.
For example, specify the age range you’re targeting: instead of "we are looking for young female participants", you might say “women between 18 and 30.”
This extends to using simple, non-jargon terminology. Instead of terms like “cohort,” you might use the phrase “study group,” and instead of “enrollment criteria,” you might say “what we are looking for in participants.”
Accessibility
Different messaging delivery modes are of particular importance for those patients with visual, auditory, cognitive, an dreading disabilities. For instance, providing videos with text transcripts, using clear and concise language, and using pictures to augment text will make recruitment content more accessible. If potential patients feel your recruitment efforts are really meant for them, they will be more likely to participate.
Additionally, consider translation and localization for reaching diverse patient populations. Make sure you have a process in place for translating all content into the appropriate languages, and that you have a good understanding of the cultural context in which your trial will take place.
Why Medable
Developing patient-centric recruitment strategies are essential in order to ensure that clinical trials are representative of the population and that patients have access to the latest treatments and therapies. One way to optimize patient recruitment is to leverage digital communications technologies. Medable’s patient-friendly communication technologies, such as Medable eConsent and Medable TeleConsent, can help enhance inclusivity. These technologies can also help drive enrollment by making it easier for patients to understand the study and by providing a more interactive experience.
