Trial Matching Services for Psychedelic Research in Australia
If you follow the APS or similar groups/pages on Facebook or other social media platforms, there’s a good chance you’ve seen targeted advertising about trial matching services that aim to match would-be participants to clinical trials of psychedelics in Australia. After some discussion, we decided it would be a good idea to offer the APS’s take on these services.
The homepage of HealthMatch, a prominent clinical trial matching service.
The APS newsletter and social media pages often cover clinical trials involving psychedelics. But if you’re interested in participating in a trial, or have a friend or family member who’s interested, how would you find out about upcoming trials that are actively recruiting participants? You could rely on word of mouth, plug some terms into your favourite search engine, or wait for announcements via psychedelic networks/organisations such as the APS. But for reliable, up-to-date information, we’d suggest checking out the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, and the World Health Organizations’s International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. We also recommend Psychedelic Support’s guide to joining psychedelic clinical trials, which includes a list and map of trials.
On the other hand, you may also be aware of for-profit trial matching services such as HealthMatch. Rather than actively promoting or recommending these services, the APS is simply seeking to raise community awareness of them. We acknowledge that trial matching services represent one way of keeping abreast of trial recruitment opportunities that may be relevant to you. We would also point out that to sign up to a trial matching service, you need to provide demographic and health-related information to a third party. Whether or not you are comfortable to submit sensitive information is obviously a personal decision, and arguably one that is not to be taken lightly.
It’s also worth noting that due to the current state of psychedelic research in Australia, and the strictness of entry criteria, it’s quite unlikely that a trial matching service would be able to match you with any trials in the foreseeable future.
We’re very much open to further discussions about trial matching services on our social media pages, or at APS events. We welcome everyone’s perspective, and are interested to hear about people’s experiences.
