As the AWARE For All program series enters its twelfth year of educating patients and the public about clinical research through award-winning, live community events, CISCRP is excited to be organizing five programs in 2016. This year, new AWARE For All programs will be held in Miami, FL, New Orleans, LA, Irvine, CA and a second annual program will be held in the Washington, DC area. Also on the agenda is CISCRP’s inaugural international AWARE For All program in London, UK scheduled for early March. The CISCRP events team has been very busy planning and implementing these programs.
“A primary goal of the AWARE For All program is to introduce clinical research to diverse communities that may not have heard of it before, particularly those communities with low health literacy,” says Jill McNair, CISCRP Director of Education, Outreach, and Community Support. “That’s why bringing this program to new communities like London, Miami, New Orleans, and Irvine is so important.”
CISCRP will host the DC event at Howard University, opening its doors to educate both the college and surrounding communities. The senior events staff is now working in earnest to assemble planning teams of local health and research professionals in DC and the other cities.
Research shows that the general public has very limited knowledge of how the clinical research process works, what it means to participate, and the role that clinical research plays in advancing public health. Disparities in health literacy exist among people who may not see a doctor on a regular basis due to lack of health insurance or a language barrier.
Lack of insurance does not cause the same disparities in Europe due to a national healthcare system that provides every citizen access to medical care at no personal cost. Even so, most of the population knows little or nothing about clinical research and the ways it could benefit patients who have already received a standard of care without improvement. A recent CISCRP study entitled “Public and Patient: Perceptions & Insights” found the European public shows the lowest self-assessed general knowledge about the clinical research process and the lowest level of willingness to participate in clinical trials.
CISCRP community partner organizations in London agree that this type of event is a valuable interactive learning opportunity for the city’s public and patient 
communities.
“The AWARE for All programme can help patients, their relatives and the general public to understand what clinical research is all about”, says Jan Geissler, Director of the European Patients’ Academy on Therapeutic Innovation (EUPATI). “It not only allows us to discuss exciting medical breakthroughs, but also hear about first-hand experience from patients who participated in clinical studies.”
CISCRP will partner with AWARE for All national sponsors EMD Serono and Lupus Research Institute and other local sponsors to host the 2016 U.S.-based AWARE for All programs. CISCRP is extremely grateful for the generous support from national sponsor Merck and local community partners in London. Sponsorship opportunities are still available for these important programs – learn more by contacting ellyngetz@ciscrp.org or calling 617-725-2750.