If you’re considering participating in a clinical trial or considering participation for a friend or loved one, there’s a lot to think about.
The topics covered on this page can help you get the information you need to guide your decision.
Why should I participate?
Clinical trials are made possible because of people like you. Volunteer participation of both healthy and those diagnosed with dementia (or other illness) is the only pathway to advances in treatment. Clinical research and clinical trials open doors to finding new and more effective ways to prevent, diagnose and treat dementia. It is almost impossible for clinical research to find crucial answers without volunteers’ participation. Common motivations for trial participants include:
- To help advance science and the treatment of their condition
- To help others with their condition
- To obtain potentially better treatment
- To learn more about their condition and its treatment
- To receive information about the study results after the study has ended
- To feel part of a community
Who can participate?
Every year, many thousands of people take part in clinical trials. Some of these studies need healthy volunteers and others need participants with a particular disease or condition. All participants are important because without them, the development of new medicines couldn’t continue.
All clinical trials have rules about who can participate, called Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria. Factors that allow someone to participate in a clinical trial are Inclusion Criteria. Those that disqualify someone from participating are called Exclusion Criteria. These criteria are based on things such as age, the type and stage of a disease, previous treatment history, other medical conditions the person has, and other drugs the person is taking.
Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria are developed with much thought and consideration. They are necessary to prove whether medicines work or not in a specific group of people and to reduce risk of problems by making sure the right participants enter the trial. These criteria are applied to all potential participants in the same way, before they start participating in the study.
What do I have to consider?
Every clinical research study is unique. Anyone interested in participating in a clinical study should know as much as possible about the study and feel comfortable asking the research team questions about the study, the related procedures, and any expenses.