Clinical trial patient recruitment: 9 ways to write effective web copy

Clinical trial patient recruitment is becoming increasingly common on the internet. The reason for this is simple: patients now routinely use the web as a source of health information.

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project*, 61% of American adults look online for health information each year. And 15% of American adults actively look online for experimental treatments or medicines.

Unfortunately, the clinical trial patient recruitment information these people find is often hard to understand. The reasons for this include:

- Confusing medical jargon.
- Complex words, sentences and paragraphs.
- Poorly explained concepts.

Needless to say, people who don’t understand your trial will be less inclined to participate. So what’s the trick to writing web-based information that engages patients, their friends and their families?

In my view, the answer lies in writing clinical trial patient recruitment information that is simple without being simplistic. In other words, you must write copy that is rich in detail yet easy to understand.

To help you, here are 9 ideas.

1. Embrace complexity

Clinical trials are complicated. Don’t be afraid to explain the complexities. By untangling the various elements, you allow a potential study participant to understand the fine details of your study. This will obviously help them make an informed decision about joining. What’s more, the better informed someone is before they consent, the less likely they are to leave your study early.

2. Explain the medical condition

Without an understanding of the medical condition being addressed, a layperson will struggle to make sense of the study drug or device being tested in your clinical trial. On that note, explain the nature of the condition before you describe the study. This is particularly important when communicating with a patient’s friends and family. After all, they probably know little about it.

3. Describe the standard of care

Your audience needs to know about the standard of care to grasp your trial's relevance. Explain it once you’ve described the medical condition.

4. Everyday words please

Like all industries, healthcare is awash with jargon. Unfortunately, most of it is meaningless to people who don’t work in the field. To connect with your audience, use simple words. If there’s no way around a technical term, use plain English to explain it.

5. Keep sentences short

Short sentences are easier for the brain to process. David Ogilvy, the father of modern advertising, suggests they contain no more than 12 words. As that’s often hard to achieve, try restricting yourself to 16.

6. Small paragraphs are your friends

Giant paragraphs are hard to read. People switch-off when they see them. Follow the lead of magazines and newspapers by restricting them to about 5-6 sentences.

7. Headlines that work

A headline must achieve two goals instantly: tell the reader what an article is about. And grab their interest. To do this, the headlines on your clinical trial patient recruitment pieces should be short. 12 words is the maximum. Also, include the name of the medical condition that your trial relates to. But exclude the name of your study drug or device – unless it means something to your audience.

8. Test for reading ease

Once you’ve written your copy, check how easy it is to read. The simplest way is via the readability checker in Microsoft Word. Based on the Flesch Reading Ease formula, you want to achieve a score of at least 60%. That’s plain English. A score below 60% suggests your copy is tricky to read.

9. Test on real users

Once you’ve crafted you clinical trial patient recruitment copy, test it on real people. Ideally, use those who know nothing about the target disease or your trial. What works? What doesn’t? Use the learnings to polish your work further. Then test again.

*‘The Social Life of Health Information’ June 2009.