There are several challenges that can arise when using digital advertising to recruit participants for clinical trials:
Reaching the right audience: Digital advertising allows for targeted messaging, but it can be difficult to reach the specific population that is eligible for a clinical trial. Wayturn can analyze your study for free, to help you figure out if we believe finding people that meet your eligibility criteria is feasible.
Ensuring that potential participants are fully informed: It’s important to provide potential participants with comprehensive information about the clinical trial, including the risks and benefits, so that they can make an informed decision about whether to participate. This can be challenging to do effectively through digital advertising alone, and often participants need to ask questions on the phone as well.
Managing the volume of responses: Digital advertising can generate a high volume of responses, which can be overwhelming for clinical trial coordinators to manage. Digital prescreening can prevent this to some degree. We can also sometimes adjust the desirability of joining a study by understating some of the benefits – especially if they are monetary.
Ensuring privacy and confidentiality: Digital advertising can potentially compromise the privacy and confidentiality of potential participants, especially if sensitive information is shared.
Dealing with misinformation: There is a risk of misinformation being shared through digital advertising, which can lead to misunderstandings or mistrust among potential participants. To prevent this, it’s important to write a promotional materials document together with the advertiser and make sure everything is factually correct.
Managing costs: Digital advertising can be an expensive way to recruit participants, and it may not always be the most cost-effective option.
Overall, it’s important to carefully consider the pros and cons of using digital advertising to recruit participants for clinical trials and to have a well-planned recruitment strategy in place. Wayturn is used to dealing with these challenges up-front, and we reject clinical trials on a regular basis if we believe that we cannot help the study in question.