Only 11% of all clinical trial participants are Hispanic, 8% are African Americans, and 6% are Asian. One of the main reasons clinical trial participation is low among minority communities is generational mistrust. So, how can sponsors reach underserved populations and alleviate their fears? There are many ways to build trust and authentic connection with underserved communities. One example is elevating minority patient voices through video, which is exactly what we did on a recent project for Merck & Co. that won two dotCOMM Gold Awards and two eHealthcare Leadership Awards.
For this project, Jumo Health partnered with the I Choose Life Foundation (ICLF) to identify former clinical trial participants from diverse backgrounds willing to share their stories. In addition to the individual stories, we facilitated a roundtable discussion with the participants, creating a supportive and comfortable atmosphere which led to candid and insightful conversations.
In total, Jumo Health developed three individual patient videos and one video of the moderated roundtable, creating versatile content vignettes to leverage across multiple platforms and social media channels. The videos were study-agnostic, allowing Merck to use them for multiple studies and corporate initiatives.
In light of the recent FDA guidance on diversity action plans in clinical trials, requiring more diverse participants to be included, initiatives like this are critical to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) recruitment efforts. By allowing minority participants to see themselves represented in clinical trials, this video series has helped Merck build credibility and trust amongst these communities in advance of their upcoming clinical trials.
As a result of the authentic representation and wide-reaching impact of this initiative, the video series secured two dotCOMM Gold Awards for Healthcare Video and Video Series and two eHealthcare Leadership Awards for Leadership in Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Best Video Series. These honors recognizes the ambitious vision of the Merck clinical trial team, the extraordinary talent of the Jumo Health production team, and most importantly the inspiring bravery of the patients who shared their stories with the world.
Below is a compilation video showing clips from all the videos:
Interested in hearing more? Watch our webinar “Why Authenticity and Patient Voice Are Critical When Driving Clinical Trial Diversity”. In this webinar you will gain insights from a five-person panel as they share their perspective on the importance of sharing diverse patient stories and activating local community leaders to help rebuild trust ahead of a clinical trial. The panelists include Tony Wafford, President and CEO of the ICLF; LaToya Bolds-Johnson, a patient advocate and former clinical trial participant; Gwenn Oakes, Director, Global Trial Optimization at Merck & Co.; and Michele Falk, Clinical Trial Recruitment Specialist at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS).
You can register to watch the webinar on-demand here.
