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Posted on10 February 2026

Better Together: Why Clinical Trial Success Needs Translation and Communications Partnership

By Rachel Lambert | rachellambert.biz | Freelance B2B Copy & Content Writer

Rachel Lambert

Here’s a scenario for your consideration: A medical research company creates an amazing patient engagement campaign and launches it across a dozen countries. It’s perfectly crafted to resonate with participants and drive serious engagement. Six months later, the trial is struggling to retain users in half those markets. What went wrong? The creative was spot-on, the strategy was sound, but as the source and target languages evolved into the final translated materials, the magic got lost 🥺

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The magic is gone, but it’s not anyone’s fault. It’s simply what happens when translation becomes an afterthought rather than part of the creative process. Is there a fix to this annoyingly common problem?

Yes, there is, and it’s called partnership, because when translation agencies and healthcare communications work as true partners, their level of success is off the chain!! Okay, I tried. The level of success is very, very good.

So, if you need a fun, 100%-human translation agency with over 30 years of experience to partner up with (or even just a quick lesson on how to sound cool 😎), then give us a call or ping us an email for a chat!

Why Partnership Beats Vendor Relationships

We’ve all seen how the typical “creative-first, translate-later” approach creates headaches. Communications agencies develop compelling patient materials, then at the eleventh hour, everything gets handed over to translators with a tight deadline and a brief note: “Please translate this exactly as written.”

The problem isn’t the quality of either service. It’s just that there’s a disconnect. Brilliant campaigns can fall flat in translation when translators aren’t part of the planning process. Cultural references that sound ‘lovely-jubbly’ in English might confuse patients in other markets. We’ve seen recruitment campaigns that performed brilliantly in English-speaking countries but completely missed the mark in translated versions, simply because the cultural assumptions sitting in the background weren’t addressed during development.

Early collaboration changes everything

When translation agencies join the conversation during concept development, we can bring cultural insights that can actually strengthen the original creative direction. Understanding how different cultures approach healthcare decisions will help to shape materials that work across all target markets from day one.

The cost and time savings are huge because it’s far more efficient to create globally-minded content from the start than to retrofit English-centric materials later.

When Two Areas of Expertise Collide

Healthcare communications agencies know their stuff when it comes to medicine. They understand what patients go through, know exactly which moments matter most for engagement, and can make complex health information actually make sense. They get what all those regulatory requirements really mean in the real world, and they’re brilliant at designing materials that put patients first.

A professional translation agency like Atlas Translations (shameless plug) offers something completely different yet equally important. We don’t just change words from one language to another; we understand how different cultures think about healthcare.

We know that families in Germany make medical decisions differently from families in Japan. This matters a great deal when you’re asking someone to join a clinical trial. We also understand how healthcare systems work across different countries, which protects you from compliance headaches that could stop your entire programme in its tracks.

But here’s where it gets exciting! When healthcare know-how meets cultural understanding, beautiful things happen. Together, we create materials that actually work for real people in real places. Together, we’re not just churning out technically correct translations that miss the mark. We can take complex medical requirements and turn them into communication that people trust and understand, no matter where they are in the world.

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Partnership in Action

Imagine working on a clinical trial for a new heart-related medical drug and struggling with recruitment. The patient materials need to work across different countries, many of which have different healthcare systems. Instead of the typical handoff approach, picture starting with joint planning sessions. The communications team could share their patient journey mapping while we provide cultural insights about healthcare decision-making in target markets.

This type of early consultation might influence creative concepts. As an example, perhaps suggesting a focus on “hope” rather than “cutting-edge technology,” especially in markets where medical scepticism runs higher.

The potential results could be dramatic:

  • Recruitment rates in translated markets might exceed those in English-speaking countries
  • Regulatory approvals could come through faster because quality and consistency have impressed the review boards
  • The entire project could be more cost-effective by avoiding expensive revision cycles that typically plague sequential workflows

Practical Tips for Making a Translation and Communication Partnership Work

Always one for helping out, we’ve come up with a list of tips that are easy to follow and put into practice.

For Communications Agencies:

The more we understand your strategic thinking, the better we can preserve that intelligence in translated materials.

  • Start involving translation partners during creative brief development, not after concepts are finalised
  • Ask about cultural considerations that might influence your creative direction
  • Share your patient engagement insights with your translation partners

For Clinical Trial Sponsors:

  • Make those early introductions between agency partners rather than managing relationships on a separate, secret-squirrel basis
  • Create shared timelines that accommodate both creative development and translation requirements
  • Think of translation and communications as integrated services rather than sequential tasks

Our Translation Agency Approach to Healthcare Communications:

  • We’ve developed healthcare communications expertise beyond technical translation skills
  • We know that understanding how patients engage makes us a better partner
  • We’re not bashful! We’ll be proactive about sharing our cultural insights during creative processes and developments

The Future of Clinical Trial Communications

Global trials are becoming more complex, not simpler. Patient-centricity demands genuine cultural understanding from day one. Companies that build integrated partnerships early are going to see significant advantages over those still working in solitary silos.

And we’re seeing longer-term partnership relationships replace project-by-project procurement. Because when agencies work together repeatedly, they develop a shared understanding that benefits everyone, especially patients.

It’s a Wrap!

The most successful clinical trials happen when patient engagement meets flawless multilingual processes. But that’s not possible when translation agencies and communications specialists work in isolation; it requires genuine partnership from concept to completion.

When we collaborate early and share expertise freely, we’re putting patient understanding at the centre of everything we do. This means we can create communications that truly connect with patients worldwide, driving better recruitment, stronger retention, and ultimately, faster paths to life-changing treatments.

We’d Love to Hear From You!

You can call us on +44 (0)1727 812 725 or email team@atlas-translations.co.uk. We respond quickly to all enquiries and are always happy to chat about your needs.

If you’d like to visit us in person to learn more about our services or to drop off documents, just give us a call or email us to arrange a time.

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The A-Team (back row: Anna, Jim, Alex, and Rhys; front row: Clare, Steffi, and Joanna)

You can also use the Live Chat button on our website during UK business hours, or click the Get a Quote button at the top of the website for a quick price estimate.

Can I Trust Atlas Translations?

Atlas Translations is certified to ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management) and ISO 17100:2017 (Translation Services) standards. For confidential projects, we’re happy to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for over 20 years now, reflecting our long-standing commitment to privacy and data protection.

We’re proud to provide fast, friendly, high-quality services—but don’t just take our word for it. Check out our client testimonials and TrustPilot reviews.

Global Voice, Local Touch

If you’re looking for some top tips for partnering with Atlas Translations, we have some top tips to share! We answer 25 of our clients’ most frequently asked questions, ranging from typesetting queries to discussing reference materials.

Click to download Global Voice, Local Touch

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Note: The author (that would be me, Rachel) would like to mention that they very much enjoy using the Oxford comma, the em-dash, and, on occasion, the 🚀 emoji. If these items appear above, Rachel promises that no AI was harmed in the creation of this post.

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