Optimising recruitment and retention in multi-component palliative care trials: A mixed-methods study

10-2023 to 09-2026

Participant recruitment and retention have been found to be seriously hampered in many palliative care trials. Trials that could not recruit the desired number of participants or have a high attrition rate may not have adequate statistical power to detect effective palliative care interventions for patients with serious conditions and their families. The aim of this project is to identify hindering and facilitating factors as well as strategies for optimising recruitment and retention of adults in palliative care trials. To generate evidence to realise this aim, I will use mixed-methods, including: 1) a multiple case study design investigating a purposive sample of trials, namely exemplar cases with good recruitment/retention and cases with poor recruitment/retention, and these in diverse countries, populations, and settings. This will involve interviews with trialists such as research nurses and a systematic comparison of factors and strategies which may have been of influence across trials; and 2) a qualitative study design exploring how recruitment and retention could be improved according to patients and families, and healthcare providers from different countries. All mixed method evidences will be triangulated resulting in an integrated evidence-based and stakeholder informed recruitment and retention research guidance. This project will result in ground-breaking and timely knowledge on efficient recruitment and retention to ensure high-quality palliative care trials.