From travel coordination to emotional support, Patient Kindness helps participants navigate the challenges of global clinical research.

‍

Put yourself in the shoes of a global clinical trial participant

Imagine you’re boarding a flight headed to a country that’s an ocean away, one you’ve never been to. You aren’t going for vacation. You wouldn’t even be doing this if it weren’t for the recent diagnosis you’ve received.

You’re getting on this flight for a hopeful chance. You’ve decided to participate in research that could either change your life or not. Leading up to your departure, you spent weeks trying to secure your passport, then your visa. The paperwork was confusing, overwhelming. 

Once you arrive, you won’t know the language. You won’t know a single person. You can only hope your accommodations will have what you need to manage the new routine your condition now requires.

You’re scheduled to be in this unfamiliar country for six months, without your friends or your family. You don’t even know if you can afford all of this — financially or emotionally — but you’ll worry about that later because right now, the stakes are high. Despite how hard this will be, you have to try. 

Wouldn’t it have been helpful if someone guided you through your visa application? 

Or translated all the trial participation paperwork into your first language? 

Or even just checked in on you to see how you were doing through all of this? 

A little empathy, a little support, a little kindness — it can all go a very long way for someone who is embarking on a challenging journey with an uncertain outcome. 

‍

Now, picture a very different scenario.

You’re boarding that same flight and while you’re still feeling nervous, this time you also feel supported. You had the help you needed obtaining your visa, along with help booking this flight. You know that during it, you’ll be served an in-flight meal that meets your new dietary limitations. You know that when you land, someone will be there to drive you directly to your temporary apartment which has the accessibility you need and the comforts of home to help put you at ease over the next several months. You know that in many ways this experience will still be hard, but at least you have the support of someone who cares enough to make it a little easier. 

This is the scenario we work to create for every patient participating in a trial supported by Mural Health’s Patient Kindness Group.

‍

Patient Kindness is a supplemental layer of premium support that goes beyond Mural Health’s core participant management platform. The program is designed to minimize the barriers patients and caregivers experience, ensuring they feel supported throughout their entire trial journey. Patient Kindness is valuable to all clinical research, but is especially impactful for international trials that require travel, or for those engaging participants with complex or nuanced needs. 

‍

“If I’d had Patient Kindness as a site coordinator, that would have been a game-changer.”

‍

Global trials are complex for everyone involved. While patients are facing the stresses of traveling and sometimes relocating internationally, sponsors are trying to navigate regional requirements, and site operators become burdened by their own operational pressures.

‍

That’s something Patient Kindness expert Jess recalls from her days working as a site coordinator in Stockton-on-Tees, England. “Site teams are often overwhelmed with demanding operational tasks, from managing KPIs and IMP/pharmacy setup, to laboratory work and patient logistics,” said Jess. “The workload leaves site coordinators with little time to provide the emotional, personalized care participants need. You feel like there’s no time to truly get to know your patients.”

‍

That’s when participants start to feel like subjects, not people — certainly not the result researchers or site operators intend. Patient Kindness restores human connection.

‍

“If I’d had Patient Kindness as a site coordinator, that would have been a game-changer,” said Jess. “It would have been reassuring to know they could speak to someone who could give them dedicated time and attention. I like to describe Patient Kindness as the emotional support site coordinators don’t have the time to provide, but wish they could.”

‍

What Patient Kindness looks like when applied to global trials

A recent study published in Frontiers in Pain Research looked at factors that impact participant recruitment and retention, including the impact of patient-centricity. The researchers came to this conclusion: “Success lies in seeking to understand and optimize the experience of [a trial’s] study population, employing targeted outreach and engagement strategies, and adapting as necessary to accommodate participants' needs, when necessary and possible.”  

‍

Shaped by that very approach, Patient Kindness has the power to boost participant morale and in turn, retention. When participants feel seen — and sites feel supported — research is more successful. But the way Patient Kindness comes to life is different for every trial and every participant. 

‍

Patient Kindness is never one-size-fits-all

From the first engagement through a trial’s entirety, participant support is personalized. In collaboration with a trial's sponsor, each Patient Kindness program is built based on the nuances of the therapeutic area, the complexities of the condition, and any travel and stay criteria that global trials often require.

‍

At the start of a trial, each participant is connected with a dedicated point of contact who is available around the clock to coordinate logistics, answer questions, accommodate condition-specific needs — and just be there. But before we engage with participants, we prepare.

‍

We start by researching what participants will need

We ask and find answers to important questions like: 

• Where are the participants based? 
• Where are they traveling to? 
• Are they relocating to participate in this trial? 
• What are preferred methods of transport in the local area?
• Is wheelchair access needed? 
• Are there any cultural or religious considerations (e.g., Kosher meals)? 

‍