One common barrier to recruiting children or adolescents to participate in a pediatric clinical trial or research study is that they often do not understand how they can directly benefit from participating in a study. DigiKnowIt News teaches young people how they can benefit from participating in your research, so they may be more likely to join your study.
When young people are informed about how participating in pediatric research can positively impact their health and well-being, they may feel more motivated to participate in your study. In fact, according to findings from qualitative studies, many children who have participated in clinical trials have reported that health and personal benefits for them were a main reason they chose to participate.1,2 More specifically, children often choose to participate in clinical trials to learn more about their own diseases, access new medicines or treatment options, receive more monitoring and care from medical professionals, and/or receive a financial reward.
In addition, young people may also be motivated to participate in a study by altruistic reasons in that they believe that their participation can positively impact the health and well-being of others. For example, they may believe that their participation may help future patients receive better treatment for their disease. In addition, they may feel that they are able to “give back” to doctors who have treated them for their disease by helping doctors advance healthcare through participating in their research.1
Children, adolescents, and their families often make the decision to participate in a study by carefully weighing the benefits and risks associated with participation. If young people are not fully informed about the ways they could benefit from being in a study, they may believe that the potential costs and risks of participating outweigh the potential benefits. Research has shown that this imbalance is associated with children and adolescents having more negative attitudes about research which can ultimately impact their decision to participate in studies.3 Educating young people about the potential benefits of participating in your research prevents families from keeping the perceived costs of participating in research at the forefront in their decision-making process.
So, how can you make sure potential participants are aware of how participating in your research can benefit them?
DigiKnowIt News explains and demonstrates the potential benefits of participating in research to children and adolescents, so researchers can help young people make more informed decisions about participating. The content of the website describes how participating in research could personally benefit participants and their health by providing them with opportunities to learn more about their disease, receive access to medical treatments that are otherwise not yet available to them, and more. In addition, DigiKnowIt News describes why pediatric research is important for the advancement of healthcare, so children can recognize how their participation in research could positively impact others. With an accurate and comprehensive look into their options, young people may feel more comfortable and ready to say “yes” to joining your study.
To learn more about how DigiKnowIt News can help you educate young people so they may be more motivated to participate in your research, visit https://digiknowit.com/ for more information.
- Luchtenberg, M., Maeckelberghe, E., Locock, L., Powell, L., & Verhagen, A. A. (2015). Young people’s experiences of participation in clinical trials: reasons for taking part. The American Journal of Bioethics, 15(11), 3–13.
- Martin-Kerry, J. M., Knapp, P., Atkin, K., Bower, P., Watt, I., Stones, C., Higgins, S., Sheridan, R., Preston, J., Taylor, D. H., Baines, P., & Young, B. (2019). Supporting children and young people when making decisions about joining clinical trials: Qualitative study to inform multimedia website development. BMJ Open, 9,
- Barakat, L. P., Stevens, E., Li, Y., Reilly, A., Deatrick, J .A., Goldstein, N. E., & Schwartz, L. A. (2019). Evaluation of the pediatric research participation questionnaire for measuring attitudes toward cancer clinical trials among adolescents and young adults. Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, 8(4), 423–433.