What has taking part in a clinical trial meant for you personally?
In one sentence, how would you sum up what taking part in a clinical trial has done/meant for you or someone you care(d) for?
In partnership with Sydney Health Partners, Health Consumers NSW and Northern NSW LHD, AccessCR is supporting a consumer group called ConViCTioN (Consumer Voices in Clinical Trials NSW). ConViCTioN are finalising a few resources to help engage people to think and ask questions about clinical trial participation. These resources will be made freely available for anyone to use.
One of the resources is a poster briefly outlining 'What's in it for me' and the personal benefits of clinical trials. To make sure it resonates, they are asking for one-sentence quotes from people (or their carers) that have taken part in clinical trials about what they personally got out of taking part.
We are looking for the kinds of statements that might connect with other people's health and life experiences/challenges. Things like:
- "The trial I took part helped me better understand my diabetes so I can control it better";
- "Because of the trial I took part in, I saw my daughter married last month when I wasn't expected to even see her graduate high school." ;
- "I am lucky I knew to ask my doctor about a trial, as I got access to a monthly instead of daily pill that has now been approved before anyone else";
- "Because of the tests I had in my trial, I found out a weakness in my bones that means I can now do something to prevent future fractures if I fall.";
- "I may not have long left, but it is comforting to know that by taking part in the trial, they will hopefully find a better treatment to slow MS".
Hopefully, that give you some inspiration about what we are looking for.
So, what difference has a clinical trial made to your life? What do you see as a benefit of your trial participation? Do you have a one-liner you would like to share (either privately, or in the comments below) that you'd be happy to have used on a poster?
What's really important to ConViCTioN is that the statements represent real people's experiences, in your own words ie. Consumer voices sharing their experiences with other consumers.
Quotes are being gathered up to the 4th September, so do get in touch if you have a personal experience you'd like to share that might just give someone else the interest or confidence to ask about clinical trials.