PATIENT RECRUITMENT
Lessons learned in patient recruitment during the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic was an accelerated lesson in how to be nimble and adapt when it comes to clinical trials and recruitment.
all from home. Many studies were paused or cancelled as the world prioritized COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutics development. Now, as areas of the world cautiously reopen and more studies start up, we reflect on common challenges in patient recruitment and how takeaways from recruiting patients during a pandemic may help to improve the process. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic the most commonly identified challenges resulting in slow enrolment and/or failure to meet enrolment in patient recruitment were the following: • lack of awareness of clinical trials • lack of communication in conducting clinical trials
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• limited time for sufficient strategy development
• little time to realign strategies The remainder of this article further explores how the lessons learned over the past year could be applied to resolve these common challenges in patient recruitment.
Lack of awareness Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, on average, 85% of the population had little to no awareness of clinical trials or how trials could meet their medical needs. Many patients were informed of potential trials by their healthcare providers, and those who independently researched and found clinical trials had difficulty evaluating whether a potential trial was the right fit for their medical needs. At the height of the “race for a vaccine”, media outlets published daily updates to inform the public of clinical trial progress and progress
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uddenly and unexpectedly, the world was thrown into an entirely new way of working, communicating, and doing it
towards approval. Suddenly, clinical trials became a topic of conversation among the general population. While the media attention has increased awareness around clinical trials, there is still more awareness needed to build trust when it comes to participating in clinical trials. Through strategic campaigns, both digitally
and traditionally, patient recruitment efforts can capitalize on this new awareness around clinical trials. Digital campaigns can be used to continue to inform the public of clinical trials, the process, and the overall benefits of participating in trials outside of COVID-19. Within traditional patient recruitment methods, partnerships between advocacy groups and healthcare providers could be strengthened to better inform these professionals of the studies available, as well as distributing more educational brochures to patients with easy-to- understand messaging.
Lack of communication
In a digital world, communication and access to information never pauses. People now expect to find answers to questions quickly and easily, whether from an internet search, a phone call, or an email.
Often, patient populations continue to struggle to find information regarding trials, and when they do find it, they may struggle to understand the specifics of a clinical trial due to limited information available or highly technical writing, and can’t see whether they qualify for a clinical trial given their medical condition. In addition, potential participants don’t always know where to reach out to when they have questions or need additional information to make an informed decision. These reasons alone reduce study enrolment from the beginning. Developing patient recruitment strategies to
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