Embedding the Patient Voice in Decentralized Clinical Trials

Leaders across healthcare are striving harder than ever to embrace the perspective of patients—the stakeholders who have the most at stake. One sign of this shift: decentralized and hybrid clinical trials continue to gain prominence across life sciences.

Sponsors and their partners believe decentralized approaches using advanced technology and home healthcare can improve enrollment rates by making participation more comfortable and convenient for study participants. Many also believe decentralized clinical trials (DCTs) will appeal to traditionally underserved communities, thus advancing an industry-wide push to make trial participation more equitable and diverse.

Many well-meaning efforts to decentralize research programs get in gear without seeking input from prospective trial participants in the disease area being studied or from the advocacy organizations that serve them.

Too often, research teams opt for a one-size-fits-all approach. In effect, the industry has raced ahead based on a generic assumption—that decentralization appeals to patients and accelerates diversity—without asking patients in different demographic groups exactly what they want or expect from a trial.

New patient-centered research from Syneos Health validates one key assumption: that DCT and digital health solutions are likely to encourage participation across different demographics and disease types.

Download the full report below for key takeaways from this novel research on participant preferences for engaging in decentralized clinical trial solutions with an emphasis on technology, informed by patient and advocate communities.

---