¶ … Participation in Clinical Research Trial: Strategies Researchers Use to Increase Recruitment for the Studies
Strategies Researchers use to Increase Recruitment for their Studies
In order to conduct successful qualitative research, researchers need to recruit the right participants for clinical trials. However, there are many setbacks when it comes to identification and recruitment of these participants due to various problems, such as differing personal preferences, ineffectiveness of the research methods used, demographics, and character traits of the target population. According to Funa and colleagues (2014), one effective strategy that can be used to increase research participants is to fully understand the target population. They state that differences in cultures, education levels, and values may discourage the participants, and researchers need to take time to discover the topics they are sensitive to, what they believe in, and the level of education they have attained. However, the effectiveness of this strategy is not guaranteed because the participants may still be uncooperative, particularly because they still view the researches as outsiders despite some knowledge of their culture. The researchers may also lack the necessary resources and time to learn all they can about the target population, who might still not be of help.
In the organization's report titled 'No Health Without Research' iMedPub claimed that the two most successful strategies were the use of incentives to coerce the participants and engagement of the participants by teaching them about the particular health problem under study and the impact it has on their health (iMedPub, 2012). In agreement with iMedPub, Purdue University (2014) believes that monetary incentives provide the best motivation for the participants because they recommend the use of a variety of incentives which include: coercion to entice them to participate, compensation in various forms - that will reimburse them for their time, finder's fees for organizations or individuals that refer potential research participants, and the use of recruitment bonuses aimed at accelerating the recruitment process. The main problem with iMedPub and Purdue University's monetary incentive strategy is the additional costs the researchers will incur. More often than not, researchers have to struggle with inadequate resources and to use large sums of money as incentives, which in fact are not guaranteed to work. iMedPub's strategy of engaging the participants may be frustrated by the differences in the participant's education…
