Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit, Applied Health Research Building, University Park, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
Health Services Research Unit, Health Sciences Building, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK.
Trials. 2022 Jun 2;23(1):457. doi: 10.1186/s13063-022-06417-3.
Marketing is a core business function in commercial companies but is also frequently used by not-for-profit organisations. Marketing focuses on understanding what people value to make choices about engaging with a product or service: a concept also key to understanding why people may choose to engage with a clinical trial. Understanding the needs and values of stakeholders, whether they are participants, staff at recruiting sites or policy-makers, is critical for a clinical trial to be a success. As many trials fail to recruit and retain participants, perhaps it is time for us to consider approaches from other disciplines. Though clinical trial teams may consider evidence- and non-evidence-based recruitment and retention strategies, this is rarely done in a systematic, streamlined way and is often in response to challenges once the trial has started. In this short commentary, we argue the need for a formal marketing approach to be applied to clinical trials, from the outset, as a potential prevention to recruitment and retention problems.
营销是商业公司的核心业务职能，但非营利组织也经常使用。营销专注于了解人们重视什么，以便做出与产品或服务互动的选择：这也是理解为什么人们可能选择参与临床试验的关键概念。了解利益相关者的需求和价值观，无论是参与者、招募地点的工作人员还是政策制定者，对于临床试验的成功至关重要。由于许多试验未能招募到参与者并留住他们，也许我们是时候考虑其他学科的方法了。尽管临床试验团队可能会考虑基于证据和非证据的招募和保留策略，但这很少以系统、流畅的方式进行，而且通常是在试验开始后应对挑战时才这样做。在这篇简短的评论中，我们认为有必要从一开始就将一种正式的营销方法应用于临床试验，作为预防招募和保留问题的潜在手段。
