Case Study: Community Engagement and Clinical Trial Success: Outreach to African American Women

This case study examines how the use of community engagement principles and approaches enhanced clinical trial recruitment and retention. The Meharry Vanderbilt Community Engaged Research Core (CERC), which facilitates community involvement in clinical and translational research, was consulted to enhance participation of African-American women in a clinical trial. CERC's key recommendations included: 1) convene a Community Engagement Studio, 2) redesign the recruitment advertisement, 3) simplify the language used to explain the scope of the study, and 4) provide transportation for participants. A comprehensive strategy to recruit, enroll, and retain participants was formulated that resulted in a 78 percent increase in enrollment and recruitment goals being met 16 months ahead of schedule. Participant retention and study drug adherence was 100 percent. The authors concluded that community engagement is essential to the development of an effective multifaceted plan to improve recruitment of underrepresented groups in clinical trials.

Johnson DA, Joosten YA, Wilkins CH, Shibao CA. Case study: Community engagement and clinical trial success: Outreach to African American Women. Clinical and Translational Science 2015;8(4):388–390.