We developed and facilitated a series of Patient Partner Workshops™. Patients engaged in a variety of unique activities designed to stimulate open, honest dialogue among the group. Our goal was to understand the patient perspective on:

• Knowledge about HCMV and cHCMV
• Values on receiving a vaccine that may not benefit their personal health, butmay benefit the health of their future children
• Values and preferences regarding participating in clinical trials of an investigational vaccine for HCMV
• Preferred methods for learning more about these diseases
• Barriers and motivators to participate in a clinical trial
• The best ways to reach patients and educate them on clinical trials for HCMV

The insights gathered during the Patient Partner Workshops uncovered patient attitudes, beliefs and perspectives of women in several key areas including:

• Participants with children were less concerned about the risk of HCMV than women without children; some women with children questioned the necessity of a vaccine. When women with children were asked if they would get the vaccine, half were undecided and half said they would not
• Most participants would not consult their partners while making a decision
  about the vaccine
• Understanding health literacy and understanding of basic medical terminology
  was key to developing impactful messaging

As a result of the actionable insights gathered during the HCMV Patient Partner Workshops, the Sponsor developed and implemented new strategies including:

• Provided study sites with HCMV educational materials, developed based on workshop findings (lexicon and emotional tone)
• Implementation of a targeted disease awareness campaign to provide education about HCMV/cHCMV
• Development of an effective outreach messaging that resonated and motivated
  patients 

Strategic optimizations developed because of the HCMV patient insights helped to reduce recruitment barriers and allow for successful retention of qualified patients.