title: A European multi-language initiative to make the general population aware of independent clinical research: the European Communication on Research Awareness Need project.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The ECRAN (European Communication on Research Awareness Needs) project was initiated in 2012, with support from the European Commission, to improve public knowledge about the importance of independent, multinational, clinical trials in Europe.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants in the ECRAN consortium included clinicians and methodologists directly involved in clinical trials; researchers working in partnership with the public and patients; representatives of patients; and experts in science communication. We searched for, and evaluated, relevant existing materials and developed additional materials and tools, making them freely available under a Creative Commons licence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The principal communication materials developed were: 1. A website ( http://ecranproject.eu ) in six languages, including a Media centre section to help journalists to disseminate information about the ECRAN project 2. An animated film about clinical trials, dubbed in the 23 official languages of the European Community, and an interactive tutorial 3. An inventory of resources, available in 23 languages, searchable by topic, author, and media type 4. Two educational games for young people, developed in six languages 5. Testing Treatments interactive in a dozen languages, including five official European Community languages 6. An interactive tutorial slide presentation testing viewers' knowledge about clinical trials
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Over a 2-year project, our multidisciplinary and multinational consortium was able to produce, and make freely available in many languages, new materials to promote public knowledge about the importance of independent and international clinical trials. Sustained funding for the ECRAN information platform could help to promote successful recruitment to independent clinical trials supported through the European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Medical Research and Consumers involvement, Department of Public Health, IRCCS Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Via Giuseppe La Masa 19, 20156, Milano, Italy. paola.mosconi@marionegri.it.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mosconi
authors.affiliation: Medical Centre - University of Freiburg, Universitaetsklinikum Freiburg, German Cochrane Centre, Berliner Allee 29, 79110, Freiburg, Germany. antes@cochrane.de.
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Antes
authors.affiliation: European AIDS Treatment Group, Place Raymond Blyckaerts, 13, 1050, Brussels, Belgium. giorgio.barbareschi@eatg.org.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barbareschi
authors.affiliation: Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, Headley Way, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. Amanda.Burls.1@city.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burls
authors.affiliation: INSERM-Institute National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, 101 Rue de Tolbiac, Paris, 75654, France. jacques.demotes@ecrin.org.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Demotes-Mainard
authors.affiliation: Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, Headley Way, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. ichalmers@jameslindlibrary.org.
authors.forename: Iain
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chalmers
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Medical Research and Consumers involvement, Department of Public Health, IRCCS Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Via Giuseppe La Masa 19, 20156, Milano, Italy. cinzia.colombo@marionegri.it.
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Medical Research and Consumers involvement, Department of Public Health, IRCCS Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Via Giuseppe La Masa 19, 20156, Milano, Italy. silvio.garattini@marionegri.it.
authors.forename: Silvio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garattini
authors.affiliation: The Copenhagen Trial Unit, Centre for Clinical Intervention Research, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark. cgluud@ctu.dk.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gluud
authors.affiliation: Cochrane Consumer Network, UK, The Cochrane Collaboration LBG, Summertown Pavilion 18-24 Middle Way, Oxford, OX2 7LG, UK. gmlgyte@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gill
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gyte
authors.affiliation: Cochrane Consumer Network, UK, The Cochrane Collaboration LBG, Summertown Pavilion 18-24 Middle Way, Oxford, OX2 7LG, UK. cmcilwain@cochrane.org.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mcllwain
authors.affiliation: Cochrane Consumer Network, UK, The Cochrane Collaboration LBG, Summertown Pavilion 18-24 Middle Way, Oxford, OX2 7LG, UK. mbpenfold@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Penfold
authors.affiliation: KKS-Network, c/o University Hospital of Cologne, Kerpener Strasse 62, Cologne, Germany. nils.post@uniklinik-freiburg.de.
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Post
authors.affiliation: Zadig, Science and Health communication, Via Ampère 59, 20131, Milano, Italy. satolli@zadig.it.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Satolli
authors.affiliation: Zadig, Science and Health communication, Via Ampère 59, 20131, Milano, Italy. valetto@zadig.it.
authors.forename: Maria Rosa
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Valetto
authors.affiliation: European AIDS Treatment Group, Place Raymond Blyckaerts, 13, 1050, Brussels, Belgium. bcwest@blueyonder.co.uk.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: West
authors.affiliation: KKS-Network, c/o University Hospital of Cologne, Kerpener Strasse 62, Cologne, Germany. stephanie.wolff@kks-netzwerk.de.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wolff
mesh_terms: D001364:Awareness; D035843:Biomedical Research; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003142:Communication; D005060:Europe; D057220:Health Literacy; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language