Patient perspective of Hesitancies and strategies to increase cancer clinical trial participation

Introduction: Strategies to improve accrual and reduce barriers to cancer clinical trials participation are critical for the advancement and implementation of new treatments and processes to improve cancer patient outcomes. While researchers have identified several barriers to accrual from the perspective of health care providers and patients, mechanisms to address and alleviate these concerns are needed to increase participation and interest in clinical trials. Methods: A focus group of 9 people with lived experience of a cancer diagnosis were accrued randomly and provided with a hands-on research experience and educational resources about clinical trials, followed by a focused group discussion to capture perspectives and/or experiences with clinical trials. Focus groups were transcribed and analyzed via Braun & Clarke's 6-phase reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Five key themes were identified as important to increase clinical trial accrual. These included a patient-centered approach, easily digestible educational resources, a personalized understanding of motivating factors, local outreach, and transparency on outcomes and progress of the work. Qualitative input also identified methods that could positively influence accrual rates. Conclusions: Providing participants with opportunities to see first-hand how research works and data are used was noted as an overwhelmingly positive experience that could improve clinical trial accrual rates. This work confirms several previous findings with respect to patient identified barriers to participation in clinical trials and provides support and a framework for development of knowledge translation strategies to increase awareness and knowledge of the importance of clinical research to improve health outcomes for cancer patients.