Table 1
Summary of the challenges encountered and the resulting recommendations, with examples.
| CHALLENGES | EXAMPLES | RECOMMENDATIONS |
|---|---|---|
| IBIs as medical devices, necessitating the approval of Swissmedic | – Additional laws, guidelines and norms to consider – Difficulty to find reliable information on how to comply with the rules and norms | – Reassess and clarify the nature of IBIs as medical devices – Assess the relevance of each IBI as a medical device, based on specific criteria – Compile the reliable information in one easy-to-find place (e.g., resource bank) |
| Outdated policies | – Lack of clear guidelines on procedures for online recruitment – Confronted with ill-suited procedures limiting greatly recruitment (e.g., forbidden to recruit abroad, handwritten consent for online studies) | – Develop clear guidelines for online recruitment – Adapt procedures to current technology (e.g., possibility to sign or send online consent forms) |
| Inadequate research training | – Mandatory 3-day pharmacology-oriented training – Only and occasionally in biomedical faculties throughout the country | – Make training more relevant and specific for the field studied by the researchers in training (e.g., psychology, social sciences, internet interventions) – Increase the frequency and diversify the settings of trainings (incl. online training) |
| Different ethical practices | – Swiss legal framework interpreted differently from one ethics committee to another | – Ensure better coherence between committees and across time through better coordination |