Abstract

Digital approaches are increasingly common in clinical trial recruitment, retention, analysis, and dissemination. Community engagement processes have contributed to the successful implementation of clinical trials and are crucial in enhancing equity in trials. However, few studies focus on how digital approaches can be implemented to enhance community engagement in clinical trials. This narrative review examines three key areas for digital approaches to deepen community engagement in clinical trials—the use of digital technology for trial processes to decentralize trials, digital crowdsourcing to develop trial components, and digital qualitative research methods. We highlight how digital approaches enhanced community engagement through a greater diversity of participants, and deepened community engagement through the decentralization of research processes. We discuss new possibilities that digital technologies offer for community engagement, and highlight potential strengths, weaknesses, and practical considerations. We argue that strengthening community engagement using a digital approach can enhance equity and improve health outcomes.

Details

Title
Digital approaches to enhancing community engagement in clinical trials
Author
Tan Rayner K J 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Wu, Dan 2 ; Day, Suzanne 3 ; Zhao, Yang 4 ; Larson, Heidi J 5 ; Sylvia, Sean 6 ; Tang, Weiming 7 ; Tucker, Joseph D 8 

1  University of North Carolina Project-China, Guangzhou, China; Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China (GRID:grid.284723.8) (ISNI:0000 0000 8877 7471); National University of Singapore, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, Singapore, Singapore (GRID:grid.4280.e) (ISNI:0000 0001 2180 6431) 
2  London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Clinical Research Department, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London, UK (GRID:grid.8991.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 0425 469X) 
3  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Medicine, Chapel Hill, USA (GRID:grid.10698.36) (ISNI:0000000122483208) 
4  University of Queensland, School of Social Science, Brisbane, Australia (GRID:grid.1003.2) (ISNI:0000 0000 9320 7537) 
5  London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London, UK (GRID:grid.8991.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 0425 469X) 
6  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, USA (GRID:grid.10698.36) (ISNI:0000000122483208) 
7  Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China (GRID:grid.284723.8) (ISNI:0000 0000 8877 7471); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Medicine, Chapel Hill, USA (GRID:grid.10698.36) (ISNI:0000000122483208) 
8  University of North Carolina Project-China, Guangzhou, China (GRID:grid.10698.36); London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Clinical Research Department, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London, UK (GRID:grid.8991.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 0425 469X) 
Publication year
2022
Publication date
Dec 2022
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
23986352
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-022-00581-1
ProQuest document ID
2643139584
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.