Writing for readability in clinical trial recruitment.
Simplifying language is an important skill in writing. The more people you want to reach, the more readable your writing must be. Although dressing up language with fancy words and long sentences can be fun, it’s not always practical.
To recruit participants for clinical research studies, we want to reach as far and wide as we can so that the resulting data can represent the real-world population. Along with accessibility and outreach efforts, readability of materials plays a huge role in these recruitment campaigns.
Clear, concise communication is the goal.
In clinical trial recruitment, we don’t want our audience to struggle to interpret our words – we want them to understand the subject quickly and in simple terms. Confusing people is just a way to get them to stop reading.
We must also consider the mindset of the individuals we’re writing for. As copywriter Hannah Luterek says:
“Sometimes the patients we are speaking to are feeling overwhelmed or anxious – so while the copy should be compelling, it’s so important that it is also concise and easy to understand. We want our writing to be both meaningful and easily comprehensible.”
There is a balance here, and we must take into account our audience’s health experience along with their demographics. Age groups, for example, largely impact the way we write. We use different language for teenagers, parents/guardians, caregivers, seniors, etc. But writing can get tricky when we want it to be for everyone.
Finding the happy-medium reading level.
According to the National Literacy Institute, more than half of adults in the United States read around or below what we might refer to as a “middle school” reading level. As the happiest medium we can reach with such a wide target audience, our goal is typically to write at this “middle school” level – sixth to eighth grade. Susie Cohen, our proposal content manager, has some words of wisdom:
“The more concise you are, the less of a chance you have to be misunderstood. Use simple words and verb tenses. Your primary goal is clear communication, so you can put the thesaurus away!”
Obstacles to simple writing.
When recruiting volunteers for clinical trials, there are two big obstacles to clear to achieve that happy-medium reading level:
- Legal requirements. There are many regulations to consider when it comes to clinical trial recruitment. Certain words or phrases might not be allowed, and in-depth explanations could be required. We must do our best to balance required language with readable language.
- Medical terminology. We strive to keep paragraphs short. But when explaining a complicated disease or procedure, that can feel impossible, sometimes even more so after breaking the language down into simpler terms. To keep an explanation short, we have to hunt for things that can be omitted without impacting the meaning.
Now here are some tips for overcoming those obstacles:
- Look up definitions, even if you know what something means.
- You may understand a certain procedure , but researching common definitions will help you best explain it to someone who has never experienced it.
- Avoid overexplaining.
- Sometimes, trying to simplify an explanation can actually make it longer. Trimming the fluff can be a huge help.
- Experiment with formatting.
- The way we break paragraphs, use bullet points, and insert bold callout lines can make all the difference in overall readability.
As editor Keith Gillogly says:
“For clear sentences, write less. Short sentences don’t indicate basic writing; the opposite is true. As the saying goes, less is more.”
The most important thing is that we don’t forget our goal: remembering who we’re writing for and why is the key to communicating and educating accessibly.
Looking to better communicate with your potential trial participants? Let’s connect!
