Although the global pandemic is not yet behind us, immense progress has been made in recent months. This would not have been possible without the thousands of clinical trials that took place. With the entire medical world focusing on COVID-19, we were quickly able to develop multiple new tests, vaccinations, and much more. Now the world is inspired to continue this phase of innovation and discovery, which will continue to transform the medical community.
Clinical trials require large numbers of participants to move forward. Some say that the most challenging step of any clinical trial is recruitment. Here are our recommendations for getting the most out of your clinical trial recruitment efforts.
1. Look in diverse areas
One thing we have learned through this process is that Black, Hispanic, and Asian American subjects are significantly underrepresented in clinical trials. This is concerning because it’s necessary to get buy-in from people of all races and cultures. Being inclusive from the beginning saves time and money. To increase diversity in clinical trials, it is important to recruit for clinical trials in areas where with diverse populations.
2. Get the word out
To ensure that you have enough people to participate in your clinical trials, you need to reach people in the correct demographics. To do this, it’s important to know your market and be creative. Consider how you’re promoting the clinical trial and giving participants the chance to join. You may have better luck with online awareness ads for a younger market, for example, and more traditional forms of advertising for an older audience.
The experts at United Language Group can identify the tactics and language your trial needs for highly successful patient recruitment. We understand that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to clinical trial recruitment, and we’ll work with your team to meet the specific goals of your trial.
3. Offer incentives
People love free stuff. It’s great to tell participants that thanks to them, medical history is being made, but this may not be enough reason for people to take time from work, school, and other activities to participate in a clinical trial. Offering incentives such as cash rewards, gift cards, and travel vouchers can encourage a larger group of participants. Offering incentives through your study will help boost your customer retention, too!
4. Partner with a language service provider
Translation is an essential component of global collaboration in the medical community. Translation also makes it possible to recruit a larger and more diverse group of study participants, and it’s indispensable in international studies. Recruiting in multiple languages is just one step you can take to recruit the diverse group of subjects necessary to determine how different medications effect different groups of people.
