Patient engagement is often used as a synonym for patient recruitment. But actually they are two distinct – though connected – concepts.

Recruitment is focused on attracting people to take part in a specific clinical trial – or potentially build a database of people who might be interested in trial participation.

Whereas patient engagement is a more long-term process, based fundamentally on involving patients in their own healthcare journey.

Certainly, engaging with patients – especially as a firm that might sponsor trials – is a benefit for being able to recruit trial volunteers. And I would suggest it can make a very significant contribution to a recruitment strategy. Having a trusted relationship with a patient can give you a head start when it comes to encouraging them to take part in a trial.

But engagement is about far more than that, and really represents a process of collaboration between patients and healthcare providers that should lead to better outcomes all round.