Study-Life Balance: Reenvisioning the Patient Experience

Elizabeth Gargill
Senior Director, Marketing and Public Relations

Putting clinical trial participation within the context of a patient’s entire life experience.

BBK Worldwide is marking the evolution of the patient experience with the introduction of a new construct called study-life balance. It leverages patient-centric solutions to help patients more easily integrate clinical trial participation into their daily lives. 

With the disruption caused by COVID-19, this construct could not be more timely for patients seeking to continue clinical trial participation or planning ahead for future enrollment. 

Study-life balance recognizes the increasing complexity of everyday life and removes impediments to clinical trial participation by leveraging patient-centric solutions. It also recognizes the ways in which patient experiences with tech-driven advancements in other areas of their lives are changing their expectations of the clinical trial experience.

The concept of study-life balance was inspired by today’s empowered healthcare consumer who has expectations for an enhanced healthcare journey. Think of the traditional ‘wheel of life,’ a tool for visualizing all areas on one’s life at once. With spokes for work, home life, social life, hobbies and general health, you can also insert a spoke for clinical trial participation, recognizing the role a positive and satisfying study experience plays in a patient’s life. Beyond travel and reimbursement, study-life balance addresses tangible and intangible factors ranging from childcare and lost wages to relocation support and medication delivery services.

By focusing on study-life balance, organizations can enhance the clinical trial patient experience in the broadest way possible. Viewing it this way allows for the inclusion of new products and services that up to now have been overlooked or neglected. For example, while we recognize that a study participant may need transportation to and from a study visit, we haven’t historically recognized that childcare or lost wages are among the real-life strains experienced by a study participant.

Study-life balance takes a comprehensive view of the patient’s life and introduces solutions to relieve the pressure points. For instance, imagine that a family is relocating from a remote region in Turkey to a city in a foreign country for an extended period in order for a family member to participate in a clinical study. The adjustment may seem overwhelming — new culture and language are just two of the many challenges. The study-life balance construct recognizes new needs that may exist and identifies solutions to create a more balanced and harmonious experience.

Click here to read the full article in International Clinical Trials.

Note: Taken from International Clinical Trials May 2020, pages 50–53. © Samedan Ltd.