Good Clinical Practice sets clear standards to protect the “rights, safety and well-being of trial subjects” and ensure data quality.
But the description as “trial subjects” misses the human element from the people participating in clinical research. They are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters…. Their lives and that of their families may be altered, most likely more difficult, because of their illness. Participating in a clinical trial may improve their quality of life, possibly even prolonging life.
Now, let’s put a “face” to the people who seek out clinical research. If we looked at participants in clinical trials today, we would see that they generally don’t represent society, either in the composition of ethnicity or gender. And more concerning, the patients don’t necessarily represent the intended beneficiaries for the treatment being investigated.
What if we consider other characteristics of the people who could participate in clinical trials? For example, what is their level of education? What is the literacy rate? How many are hourly wage earners who don’t receive sick pay? How many have adequate – if any – medical insurance? How many live in rural or remote areas with limited medical facilities?
It is against this backdrop that we ask: how can clinical trials be more accessible to more people? This led to our recent webinar "No One Left Behind: Addressing Clinical Trial Access and Issues Blocking Physician Participation.”
We oriented this session from the perspective that making clinical trials more accessible to more physicians opens opportunities to build awareness and trust among a broader patient population.
In perhaps the most engaging – and entertaining – panel discussion of my career, I had the privilege to moderate a discussion with a distinguished group:
I won’t give everything away, but here are a few highlights of each presenter:
The panelists then debated a few topics in a free-form discussion:
As part of Teckro’s ongoing focus on clinical trial accessibility, we sponsored this webinar as a way to be a champion for those who can’t be champions for themselves. With heightened awareness of clinical research and the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on minority populations, now is as good a time as any for the industry to take a new approach to clinical trial participation.
You can access the webinar recording in our resources center. We also published an FAQ for physicians who may consider becoming a clinical trial investigator. And we published a solution perspective on how Teckro contributes to making clinical trials more accessible.