What changed
- A grant at risk of cancellation gained a viable recruitment path.
- Veteran-focused outreach produced rapid screening volume for a rare disease study.
- The campaign converted awareness and sharing into trial-ready participants.
Case Study: Gulf War Illness
We rebuilt momentum for a hard-to-recruit Gulf War Illness trial by reaching veterans through trusted community channels.
3,256
veterans helped in 3 months
1,700
campaign shares in New York City
165
eligible veterans screened
60X
higher monthly recruitment rate
Before vs. WeHealth
Traditional Method
- Patients recruited
- 20
- Time
- 24 months
- Rate per month
- 0-1
WeHealth
- Patients recruited
- 165
- Time
- 3 months
- Rate per month
- 50-60
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Problem
Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a rare disease diagnosed in US Desert Storm veterans due to their exposures to toxins during their deployment. Due to the rarity and idiosyncratic nature of GWI, it is underdiagnosed and patients have been historically difficult to recruit for clinical trials.
Our client
We partnered with a major research center within the Mount Sinai Hospital system in New York City. They had received a grant from the Department of Defense to study a treatment for GWI-related pain. 2 years into the recruitment phase of the trial, they had only enrolled 20 patients, 25% of their goal. The grant had been extended twice and was in danger of cancellation.
Our approach
We engaged the local veteran community in New York City using 3 approaches:
- Existing patients in the client network
- Scraping social media pages
- Tapping our database of patients
Once engaged, we provided these veterans with sharing tools to reach their extended network, connecting them with resources and, if eligible, our client’s clinical trial.
Results
We helped 3,256 Gulf War veterans in 3 months and 1,700 veterans shared our campaign in New York City, resulting in 165 eligible and interested veterans screened for our client’s clinical trial. Our efforts improved the client’s rate of recruitment by more than 60X per month.
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