Randomised controlled trials are susceptible to poor participant recruitment and retention. Studies Within A Trial (SWATs) are the strongest methods for testing the effectiveness of strategies to improve recruitment and retention. However, relatively few of these have been conducted. The PROMoting THE Use of Studies Within A Trial (PROMETHEUS) programme aimed facilitated 42 SWATs evaluating recruitment or retention strategies across 31 host trials. In this webinar, we shared our experiences of delivering the PROMETHEUS programme, and the lessons learnt for undertaking randomised SWATs.
Dr Adwoa Parker is a trial methodologist, a UK National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Advanced Fellow and leads the Trial Forge Studies Within A Trial (SWATs) Centre at The University of York (UK). SWATs are self-contained studies embedded within ongoing randomised trials that aim to generate evidence to improve the design and delivery of future trials. Adwoa’s Advanced Fellowship, ‘IMPLEMENT SWATs’, funded for 10 years, aims to use implementation science and SWATs to improve evidence-informed participant recruitment and retention in trials. Adwoa was previously co-investigator and Programme Manager on PROMETHEUS, a major programme of research funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) to facilitate the routine embedding of a recruitment or retention SWAT in ongoing randomised controlled trials. PROMETHEUS produced the largest body of SWAT activity in the world.
