Clinical trials succeed or stall based on one factor that’s easy to overlook: how well they fit into patients’ lives. The science of the trial may be sound and the protocol may be innovative, but if participation adds too much strain on patients or sites, the trial slows, stalls or fails.
Today, competition for participants is fierce. Every sponsor is vying for the same patients, often across overlapping protocols. To succeed, a trial must be logistically livable.
“If participation can’t fit around someone’s real life, it’s simply not realistic,” said Adele Stevenson-Lampard, Director of Patient Concierge Services at Syneos Health. “When support addresses each barrier upfront, the study stops being a burden and starts being possible.”
Across today’s complex study landscape, sponsors are realizing that empathy and efficiency are not opposites. When trial design reflects real-world patient circumstances and site capacity, studies move faster, retain participants longer and generate more representative data. Personalized participant support may once have been a gesture of goodwill, but it is now an operational necessity.
When participation becomes unsustainable
Participation in clinical research is often demanding. Travel, time away from work, caregiver responsibilities and out-of-pocket costs can discourage enrollment or lead to mid-study withdrawals. The rise of decentralized and hybrid designs adds convenience for some but complexity for others, especially those managing rare or chronic conditions or living far from study centers.
Sites frequently shoulder the impact. Coordinators handle travel logistics, reimbursements and scheduling in addition to their clinical duties. The result is burnout, administrative backlog and data delays.
“Joining a clinical trial can be daunting,” Stevenson-Lampard added. “People are weighing family time, work, travel and the fear of the unknown. When we make the simple things—like travel, reimbursement and scheduling—truly simple, it changes their perception of what’s possible.”
Aligning study design with real lives
Tailored participant support begins well before the first visit. It starts with listening to understand who patients are, what they value and how trial participation fits into their daily routines.
Modern support programs increasingly combine digital tools with human coordination. Practices like cashless travel, lodging support, caregiver coordination and multilingual communication reduce attrition and expand access by removing economic and logistical barriers that have historically excluded many groups from research. Mobile platforms can manage travel requests, expense tracking and two-way communication with coordinators. The integration of these tools with clinical operations data allows for earlier identification of barriers and faster resolution when issues arise.
“Technology helps us scale communication, but it doesn’t replace empathy,” said Stevenson-Lampard. “There always needs to be a human point of contact, someone patients can reach when they’re overwhelmed or confused. That kind of steady, practical support is what keeps people in studies.”
Shared benefit: empowering sites through operational relief
Support systems built for patients also improve site performance. Coordinators often spend hours managing non-clinical tasks like organizing travel, processing expenses or fielding patient questions. Each administrative burden pulled off their plate strengthens the quality and consistency of study execution.
Delegated support models, such as embedded research staff or remote coordination teams, allow trained professionals to perform tasks like patient identification, data entry or query management under a site’s oversight. These models reduce bottlenecks while maintaining regulatory and data integrity.
Evidence from multiple programs by Syneos Health shows that sites using structured support solutions see measurable gains. In one study, sites achieved 29% higher enrollment rates, saved 150 staff hours and reduced pre-screening workload by 88% after adopting these practices.
“Sites are already spinning so many plates—enrollment, data entry, compliance, patient relationships,” Stevenson-Lampard said. “When sponsors assume sites can handle every added responsibility, they underestimate the strain that creates. The best outcomes happen when we take weight off the site, not add to it.”
Bringing the trial to the patient
Even with strong travel and reimbursement programs, some participants face obstacles that make in-person visits unrealistic. Health conditions, mobility limitations or distance can prevent participation entirely.
Mobile research nursing addresses that gap. Qualified nurses conduct protocol-specific procedures like infusions and capturing vital signs in participants’ homes while maintaining Good Clinical Practice (GCP) standards. Each visit is documented and reviewed within 48 hours, ensuring continuous oversight and data accuracy.
Beyond convenience, it reflects a deeper evolution in trial conduct: research that adapts to the participant, not the other way around. Hybrid participation models built on this principle extend the reach of trials into communities historically underrepresented in research, while preserving the quality of clinical oversight.
Measuring what matters
For years, participant support was treated as a courtesy that was helpful, but not measurable. That mindset is changing as sponsors now evaluate the impact of support services on metrics such as time to enrollment, retention rates, visit adherence and participant satisfaction.
Data consistently show that structured support correlates with faster enrollment and lower dropout rates. These gains translate directly into financial and scientific returns by shortening timelines and improving data completeness.
“Our insights at Syneos Health show that sponsors are still learning how to quantify the value of this work,” Stevenson-Lampard said. “When you see faster enrollment or fewer dropouts, it’s not luck, it’s logistics done well. As more studies measure those metrics directly, the return on investment becomes impossible to ignore.”
Looking ahead: empathy as infrastructure
As trials and regulatory frameworks increasingly emphasize participant experience as a component of trial quality, the next generation of clinical trials will embed participant support as a core design element. Future protocols will increasingly require burden assessments and strategies for minimizing logistical and financial strain.
Every advancement ultimately huddles around the indispensable human element. Support staff who understand emotional context—what it means to join a study while managing illness, family, and uncertainty—will continue to be central to participant trust.
The educational message for sponsors is simple: empathy scales when it is operationalized. By treating participant support as infrastructure rather than assistance, organizations create studies that are more inclusive, more sustainable and ultimately more successful.
To learn more about Syneos Health and the Company’s Clinical Development solutions, click here.