Second to money, I think "need" is the greatest driving factor in participation of clinical studies. When a person is diagnosed with an incurable disease whether because of its stage or severity, they will try any possible treatment that may help. Patients assume a greater risk by enrolling in a clinical trial compared to conventional treatments. However, under their circumstances the possibility at a successful treatment is worth the risk because the alternative is a shorter life.

Like Anthony said, need may also be a driving factor for individuals to enroll in clinical trials. One other form of compensation may be trials which are low risk but the method at which they are performed is providing the patient with value in some form or another. In this case, the disease may not be severe but there is still value attained from the trial itself. An example can be clinical trials which evaluate the effects of certain foods on what may be considered to be milder conditions. In this case, it is not money as a form of compensation, but the meal itself.

That is true, it can be pretty expensive and not financially efficient for a clinical trial company to have to pay each participant subject for partaking in the study. Other than money, another qualifying incentive that could possibly attract potential participants is offering for them to keep the free product or giving them some of their company's product or products with no added cost to them. I think this would be a pretty good incentive because a lot of people don't care if they even really need the product and they are just willing to do things free items. Whether they use it or not, most people will accept free stuff by any means to even give as a gift. This wouldn't cost the company any more than just damaging product out or giving the excess in the form of a sample sized amount. 

That is true, it can be pretty expensive and not financially efficient for a clinical trial company to have to pay each participant subject for partaking in the study. Other than money, another qualifying incentive that could possibly attract potential participants is offering for them to keep the free product or giving them some of their company's product or products with no added cost to them. I think this would be a pretty good incentive because a lot of people don't care if they even really need the product and they are just willing to do things free items. Whether they use it or not, most people will accept free stuff by any means to even give as a gift. This wouldn't cost the company any more than just damaging product out or giving the excess in the form of a sample sized amount. 

The above answer of being the last hope of some people can be a major driving factor for why some people will take on the risk despite the possibility of the cure not working. This is because the alternative to a potential cure not working is that the patient would ultimately have a lower standard of life or possible death. Another form of compensation and incentive may be the possibility of feature enhancing possibilities. For example the enrollment of a new fat burning drug. For some people who would want to have such benefits even though it may not be an incurable, may be enticing to them enough to join an investigational drug research.

Going off of this question, should there be a limitation to why a person wants to join a clinical trial?

Aside from need, I believe interest could also be inviting. Say that there is a study about concussions, and you happen to play a sport. Because this study pertains to you or someone on your team, you may be interested in learning about this research and, therefore, more inclined to participate. When recruiting volunteers, it's important for the researcher to identify the big need for one individual’s participation. The findings may not impact these participants, but it will help to establish future studies.

While money is a popular incentive to promote an increase in participants for a certain study, there should be additional non-monetary benefits as well. If you are paying someone to partake in your study, I believe you should also reimburse their transportation costs, parking costs, etc.

For example if your study requires your participants to exercise daily, a gym membership should be given to your participants. Paying a flat rate just for the involvement of the participants is not enough if they are expected to make lifestyle changes that may be costly. Drastic expenses that have to be considered throughout the duration of the study should be reimbursed. 

It is common to see a correlation between low income communities and participation in studies. This could be due to the fact that their social situation puts them in a vulnerable spot to be influenced. Depending on the complexity of the study, perhaps setting up those participants with some type of appropriate job, adequate housing, etc, could prove to be beneficial for all parties involved as well as the community. 

I agree with the above posts that money is one of the most popular ways to incentive participants to join a clinical study, especially a phase I clinical trial. In addition to money, need, inclusion criteria, and exclusion criteria are other factors that contribute to the selection of participants for a clinical study. Selection bias can threatens research and can skew clinical study results. For example, selection bias can result in an investigator only choosing a certain demographic for the study. When it comes to selecting participants, it is important to avoid selection bias. What are some other ways that selection bias can harm a clinical study? What are some ways that an investigator can still incentive the right participants and avoid selection bias?

Though incentives are offered to attract participants to join clinical trials, candidate selection plays an important role in accomplishing a successful research study. Therefore, picking randomized contestants and performing double-blind procedures will help minimize the selection bias. A double-blind study means neither the participants nor the researcher is aware of the treatment. In these studies, there are two groups: the control and the experimental group. At times, even researchers may influence the results during the administration or data collection stages unintentionally. Since the participants are unaware of which group they are in, their beliefs about the treatment are less likely to influence the outcome. Double-blind studies are particularly useful for preventing bias due to demand characteristics or the placebo effect.

@cb447 Selection bias is certainly a pitfall that clinical researchers may fall into if the only incentive for their study is monetary. However, as mentioned above, there are many other possible incentives to join a study and researchers need to be sure that during their pre-screening of candidates that they randomize the selection as much as possible. Certainly there will always be a degree of selection bias, but there are major watch-outs (as applicable to the type of study), such as making sure there are women represented, diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, diverse race and ethnicities, wide age range, etc. This ensures that an accurate representation of the population is captured, and that the conclusions of the study are applicable to the targeted population. For example, in more recent years there has been criticism that in many drug development clinical trials, women were not represented and therefore the effect of the drugs have not been tested appropriately in women. To ensure that there are enough participants to actually randomize the selection, there should be targeted incentives that address existing barriers that certain overlooked populations have (daycare option for parents with young children, transportation, educational opportunity, etc.). Additionally, it may be beneficial to monetarily incentivize recruiters in hospitals and medical practices as well, as they have greater access to a diverse patient population.

Although monetary rewards are important, recognition is even more important for professionals. High performing employees expect to be recognized, but do not necessarily expect to be rewarded. Sometimes a small token of appreciation may go a long way towards motivating dedicated employees. 

Incentives can be either monetary or non-monetary.

Monetary incentives include:

- P4P

- Cash

- Non-cash gift cards / certificates

- Merchandise

- Travel and experiential rewards.

Non-monetary incentives include:

- Premium Contributions

- Food

- Training/Workshop opportunities

Plaques, thank you letters, recognition certificates, stickers, and t-shirts with a logo are also used. 

Abduljawad, A., & Al-Assaf, A. F. (2011). Incentives for better performance in health care. Sultan Qaboos University medical journal, 11(2), 201–206.

Nurses are frequently involved in the recruitment of subjects for clinical research studies when their patients are potential study participants. As professionals, it is nurses’ responsibility to make sure that our patients are treated with beneficence when they are included in clinical research. Financial incentives are frequently used to encourage participation, and the concern has been raised that this practice could be coercive, especially for people who have limited financial resources.

If the budget of a clinical trial allows, I believe that subjects should compensated not only for their time spent in travel but for their sample collection and any other testing they may have to endure.  Besides possibly getting treated for what ails them, monetary compensation for them or their family can help increase the population pool of a study especially if there is skepticism in participation.  Alternatives to money could be lodging, food, gift cards, or vouchers.  

I really don't know if other than money, what other incentive there could besides maybe free health care. This will still cost the company money, but the people in the trial will at least get their health concerns taken care of. Here in America, healthcare is treated like a privilege when it is indeed a right. Every person has the right to health care. Providing people with good care including dental, may actually incentivize more people to participate. I'm not sure if this is a possibility, but I know that a bunch of broke college kids will most likely sign up for a trail for a free tooth cleaning or extraction.