BOX 2-2a Key Principles for Recruiting and Retaining People in Clinical Trials

  • Develop a strong recruitment strategy involving community leaders.
  • Start recruitment early—before time to start the trial.
  • Respect local culture.
  • Engage caregivers.
  • Involve racially and ethnically diverse physicians in the recruitment process and in the trial itself (as a longer-term strategy, Merck has worked with the National Medical Association to increase clinical research training among African American physicians).
  • Make it easier and more convenient for people to be part of the trial, through such practices as reducing the required number of blood draws and reimbursing for, or even arranging, travel.
  • Give people credit for checking in and filling out some of their information remotely.
  • Clearly explain the importance of the trial for the public’s health, which makes it easier to overcome public skepticism and lack of understanding.
a

Based on presentations by Carol Horowitz, Associate Professor, Department of Health Evidence and Policy, Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Robert Michler, Surgeon-in-Chief, Professor and Chairman, and Director, Center for Heart and Vascular Care at the Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Richard Murray, Head of Global Center for Scientific Affairs, Merck & Co.; and Greg Simon, Senior Vice President, Patient Engagement, Pfizer Inc., and workshop discussions.

From: 2, Framing the Problem

Cover of Public Engagement and Clinical Trials
Public Engagement and Clinical Trials: New Models and Disruptive Technologies: Workshop Summary.
Institute of Medicine (US).
Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2012.
Copyright © 2012, National Academy of Sciences.

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