What is it about?
Ancillary care (AC) refers to the medical care provided to participants during research conduct for injuries or harm that is unrelated to the study or experiment. This is especially relevant when the research takes place in resource-constrained settings where partipants, next to the broader host community, face access to care constraints and high-quality care is often lacking. Quantitative and qualitative findings show high endorsement for the AC support, regardless of participants’ personal use. This acceptability study highlights the importance of providing AC in clinical trials and comprehensive participant care in research.
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Why is it important?
Our findings highlight the significance of comprehensive participant care within the context of clinical research. As a result, five actionable recommendations were listed. Regularly revising AC policies based on findings from acceptability studies is essential to prioritize the well-being of trial participants and to address the expectations and concerns of the community. We believe these findings and recommendations offer valuable insights for future clinical research, specifically within the context of resource-constrained settings.
Perspectives
The acceptability study provided valuable insights into participants’ views and perceptions on the study’s AC support, which proved to be a valuable and important contribution to the overall evaluation of the AC policy in the Ebola vaccine trial conducted in Boende, DR Congo.
Gwen Lemey
Universiteit Antwerpen
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: “We have to amplify what we saw at EBOVAC” – Assessing participant perceptions, attitudes, and acceptability of an ancillary care policy in an Ebola vaccine trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A mixed methods study, PLOS One, June 2025, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0325435.
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