The fourth key element for successful patient recruitment is retaining people on the trial through to completion. This can be partially achieved through recruiting the right people in the first place, but will also require ongoing communication to keep them as engaged participants.

Everyone will have their own preferences for the method of ongoing communication that works best for them – such as by text, email, or phone. And being able to offer a range of different methods is most likely to help keep people interested in ongoing participation.

As well as keeping in touch with patients, having ongoing communication with research sites and any relevant healthcare professionals will help keep the trial ‘front of mind’ for them. Which, in turn, helps to reinforce the idea that all the people involved are making a valuable and valued contribution to the process.