Medicine Meets Marketing: Frameworks to Recruit Participants of an Adaptive Platform Trial of COVID Treatments
Author(s): Geil Han Astorga, Gillian Kranias, Amy Ferris, Jaydee Cossar, Benita Hosseini, Andrew D. Pinto
Description:
Despite the progress in reducing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, scientists anticipate the virus will become endemic. The Canadian Adaptive Platform Trial of Treatments for COVID in Community Settings (CanTreatCOVID) aims to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments in reducing symptoms, decreasing emergency department visits and hospitalizations, and preventing long COVID. The study will enroll 2,500 patients per anticipated four treatment arms across Ontario, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Manitoba, and Alberta. Recruitment is crucial to success yet remains a challenge in clinical trials. This project explored the application of two frameworks—the Toronto Translational Framework (TTF) and the Attention, Interest, Desire and Action (AIDA) Marketing Funnel—to develop recruitment strategies for CanTreatCOVID, ideating with patient partners and testing codesigned strategies.
Following the TTF stages, meetings with the Recruitment Committee, including 25 patient partners, have been conducted to improve recruitment strategies. Previous collaborative sessions focused on framing the recruitment scope, defining needs, and ideating approaches. Using AIDA, the study team plots and implements the suggestions of committee members to recruit through primary care providers, emergency departments, pharmacies, community organizations and digital and traditional advertising platforms.
CanTreatCOVID launched in January 2023, and iteration of the strategies will continue until January 2025. The committee has been meeting monthly to provide feedback on plans and address challenges. The study team will use the weekly report of recruited participants and referral sources for evaluation. The results of this project aim to inform future developments of trial recruitment strategies using frameworks from translational research and marketing.