On November 9 – 10, 2015, CTTI’s Recruitment Project Team hosted a multi-stakeholder, expert meeting to address the following objectives:

• Present findings from the CTTI Recruitment Project’s evidence-gathering activities
• Obtain stakeholder perspectives and critical feedback on draft considerations for more effective recruitment planning
• Develop consensus across multiple stakeholder perspectives on the mechanisms for moving recruitment planning upstream and achieving culture change
• Identify implementation barriers to achieving change
• Develop consensus across multiple stakeholder perspectives on the mechanisms for overcoming barriers to achieving change

Maximizing recruitment efforts depends on the design and feasibility of the clinical trial protocol and site selection, as well as appropriate communication planning. Attendees discussed how to improve clinical trial recruitment efforts by incorporating Quality by Design (QbD) concepts into recruitment planning strategies, identifying and engaging important stakeholders, viewing recruitment through a patient-centric lens, and crafting and positioning the right messaging to encourage the public to inquire about recruitment opportunities. Experts presented and discussed current patient and public perceptions of clinical research and how this impacts trial recruitment. To improve recruitment overall, participants acknowledged that trust and better rapport among research scientists/medical professionals and patients/the public need to be fostered. Additionally, recruitment planning cannot rely on a one-size-fits-all approach; recruitment efforts must be fit for purpose and tailored to individual trials.