The holiday season brings joy, travel, and time with family — but for clinical trial teams, it can also mean a dip in patient participation and engagement. Between travel plans, scheduling conflicts, and seasonal distractions, sites often see reduced patient communication and slower enrollment in November and December.
Yet, with the right strategy and the right partner, it’s possible not only to maintain engagement but to strengthen patient relationships during this time.
The holidays can hit pause on participation
Patient engagement is always a balancing act, but during the holidays, several factors make it even harder:
- Schedule conflicts: Patients are busier with family and travel, making it harder to keep appointments.
- Seasonal fatigue: Health priorities sometimes take a back seat to celebrations.
- Communication gaps: Sites may reduce hours or delay follow-up due to staffing changes.
- Weather and logistics: Travel disruptions can make in-person visits difficult.
If not addressed, these factors can lead to missed visits, dropout risk, and delayed enrollment — all of which impact study timelines and data integrity.
How SubjectWell supports holiday engagement and retention
- Scheduling conflicts and participant availability
Participants may travel or have shifting priorities, making it harder to maintain visits. The season’s unpredictability can lead to protocol deviations or missed check-ins. - Reduced site staffing
Many sites run with minimal staff, increasing the risk of slower responses, delayed visits, or incomplete follow-up which could contribute to poor patient experience and higher dropout rates. - Communication lags and “out-of-office” delays
With site personnel on leave and response times slowed, patients can lose contact or motivation if not supported through other channels. - Weather and seasonal illness
Winter storms, flu, and other seasonal factors can interfere with travel, attendance, and overall engagement. - Regulatory and administrative holdups
Many oversight bodies and review boards have limited operations over the holidays. Timing issues can cascade if not anticipated.
Quality referrals don't take a holiday
While others slow down, we ensure sites receive highly qualified, pre-screened patients ready to take the next step. Our unique Secondary Screening process goes beyond the basics, confirming eligibility details before patients ever reach your site. This additional layer of qualification means fewer screen failures, less site workload, and more patients who are truly ready to enroll.
Final thoughts
Even when the rest of the world is on holiday, SubjectWell ensures that you stay connected, patients stay enrolled, and your trial stays on schedule.
We act as an extension of your site teams, keeping communication lines open and patients engaged, while reducing the burden on coordinators. That means fewer missed appointments, higher patient satisfaction, and smoother operations, during the holidays and all year long.
