Overview
Investigator Kimball Johnson made a short video explaining what it is like to participate in a clinical trial, demystifying the experience for first-time participants. The video converted interested people into enrollees at the trial site, was licensed to other sites, and shown at conference booths. This effort is low-cost, high-impact, and fully replicable by other sponsors and sites.
Methods
- Developed a patient-facing recruitment video featuring a study principal investigator alongside real patients and caregivers with prior Alzheimer’s disease (AD) clinical trial experience
- Focused messaging on relatable experiences with memory loss, caregiver perspectives, the importance of early intervention, and the role of research in advancing treatment options.
- Used authentic participant and caregiver stories to address fear, uncertainty, and common misconceptions about clinical trial participation.
- Deployed the video through a multi-channel recruitment strategy including social media advertising, a dedicated study website, site outreach activities, clinic-based sharing, and the sponsor’s patient-facing website.
- Integrated the video into the recruitment funnel, directing viewers to an online pre-screen questionnaire followed by phone-based qualification and referral to study sites.
- Initially designed as a site-specific investigator recruitment strategy, then scaled into a single recruitment asset deployed nationally across all participating sites.
Metrics
- 5,200+ individuals engaged with the video through the digital recruitment campaign.
- 5,180 individuals completed the online pre-screen survey, with 3,058 meeting initial pre-screening criteria.
- After additional phone pre-screening, 128 individuals were referred to study sites.
- 48 participants signed informed consent and entered formal study screening.
- 15 participants were found eligible and 13 were ultimately randomized into the Phase 1 study.
Key Lessons
- Authentic voices build trust. Featuring a real investigator alongside real patients and caregivers made the study feel more relatable and credible, while helping address fears and uncertainties surrounding AD research participation.
- Educational recruitment content can support awareness, pre-screening, and enrollment simultaneously.
- Caregivers play a critical role in the participant journey. Including caregiver perspectives helped normalize participation and reinforced the importance of support systems throughout the study process.
- A single video asset can be effectively deployed across social media, websites, clinics, and site outreach programs.
- Recruitment success should be measured by downstream outcomes such as screening, eligibility, and randomization, not just views or impressions.
Contact
Robyn Moxon — [email protected]
*Content last updated September 2026