Strengthening Translational Research in Diverse Enrollment (STRIDE), a collaborative project among three CTSA Hubs (UAB, UMass, and Vanderbilt University) that seeks to develop and test innovations to increase participation of under-represented groups in clinical trials and other research, received a shout out from NCATS Director Dr. Chris Austin in his Jan. 2, 2018, Director’s Corner message. "Im excited about the STRIDE initiative," he said, adding that the tools, once shown effective, will help accelerate translation, "ensuring its benefits will reach all who need them." 

STRIDE’s personalized informed consent intervention (aka eConsent), featured in a Trial Innovation Network (TIN) webinar on Dec. 14, 2017, is just one of the novel methods under development. Others include the use of storytelling to introduce potential participants to the research process and simulation-based research assistant (RA) training to help build relational skills, such as rapport and understanding, that are critical when discussing clinical trials with potential participants.

The REDCap-based eConsent platform includes avatars, videos, and hover-over features to increase both trust and interest in clinical trial participation. The brief videos feature real participants from clinical trials sharing their personal experiences with research. The eConsent features were reviewed via a Community Engagement Studio, where stakeholders provided feedback to increase their usefulness. The STRIDE team is currently evaluating its multi-modal intervention. As noted by Dr. Austin, once the methods are shown to be effective, STRIDE investigators will disseminate them broadly to help increase participation in research throughout the CTSA network.

Slides from the STRIDE webinar are available here.
Sample storytelling videos are available here.