What is the purpose of this Event?
The purpose of this event is to provide an update on the best ways to enrol (recruitment) patients onto clinical trials, and how patients can be helped to stay enrolled on clinical trials (retention). The event will have two keynote speeches from academics from the University of York, a global leader in trials methodology research. Dr Adwoa Parker, Associate Professor will provide an overview on how researchers can optimise recruitment and retention to trials. Catherine Arundel, a Research Fellow and Trial Manager will provide an overview on how trialists can investigate how to improve recruitment and retention to their trials by conducting smaller studies within their trials (SWATS). In addition, representatives from clinical trial networks in Ireland will share their own experiences of recruitment and retention in trials and their experiences of conducting SWATs.
Why is this event important?
Clinical trials are important as they inform us about the safety and effectiveness of new clinical treatments. For trials to be successful they need to recruit a prespecified number of patients, and they need those patients to complete the full trial (retention) so that clear conclusions about the safety and effectiveness of new clinical treatments can be made. Recruitment and retention can be difficult to trials and this may delay the integration of effective new treatments into clinical care. Therefore, it is important that we optimise recruitment and retention to the clinical trials we conduct. This event will provide stakeholders in clinical trials in Ireland with practical evidence-based advice on enhancing trial recruitment and retention.
Who is the target audience?
Stakeholders in clinical trials in Ireland (e.g. researchers, health care professionals, public and patient involvement representatives)
How will we share event outcomes?
We will publish an open access post-event written report on HRB-Open Research.
