Study Recruitment Materials from the Michael J. Fox Foundation

The Michael J. Fox Foundation, which focuses on elimination of Parkinson’s disease, has developed study recruitment materials that are applicable to other areas of disease research. The Study Recruitment section of the organization’s website includes:

• Accelerating Clinical Trials: Best Practices for Recruitment and Retention—A best-practices manual that uses the participant journey as an organizing principle for optimizing clinical trial design, increasing awareness and enthusiasm for participation, and addressing frequently encountered challenges.
• Recruitment and Retention Toolkit—This suite of patient-friendly tools can be customized and used to demystify research and present a study to the prospective participant community. The toolkit includes 34 templates and guides for practical trial needs, such as marketing materials, informational one-pagers, and other key tools, to support patient recruitment and retention.

For prospective trial participants, the Michael J. Fox Foundation also has produced “Navigating Clinical Trials: A Guide for Parkinson’s Patients and Families.” This 54-page guide is organized into three chapters: Clinical Research Basics; Research Participation throughout Your Parkinson’s Journey; and Genetics and Parkinson’s Clinical Research.