Enhancing Participant Engagement in Clinical Studies: Strategies Applied in the Personalized Parkinson Project

ABSTRACT/BACKGROUND

A recent article by Kehagia et al. in this journal highlighted the extensive qualitative work that was conducted within the PD STAT trial, and that resulted in valuable insights and recommendations to enhance trial delivery in Parkinson’s disease (PD) [1]. Future trials can benefit from a similar person-centered research protocol, addressing the needs of study participants, care partners and study staff. These include the need to alleviate the burden of OFF state assessments, the need for care partners to feel heard, the importance of the relationship between study staff and study participants and the possibility to personalize data collection protocols to maximize convenience, comfort, and privacy.