This is bad enough
Today is National Poetry Day, which aims to explore the relevance of verse in modern-day life. We love this poem by Elspeth Murray, which echoes our frustration at the complexity, jargon, irrelevance and clutter that litters much of communication today. Elspeth wrote the poem for the launch of the cancer information reference group SCAN (South East Scotland Cancer Network) in January 2006, which has been trying to improve the quality and speed of services for people with cancer. © Elspeth Murray.
That’s brilliant! This really hits the nail on the head of what patients need, rather than what pharma companies are obligated to provide. We so often hide behind legal and regulatory to excuse ourselves from poor, unhelpful patient information, when all we really need do is have a proper think about what it is that the patients themselves need. Surely it’s not good enough just to sell to doctors without helping the patients to understand and comply with an appropriate treatment.
On my brand we tend to approach patient information as something we ‘should’ produce, an after thought, and its not a part of any thought through strategy. It’s refreshing (and a bit of an elbow in the ribs, but a necessary one nonetheless!) to be reminded of why I got into healthcare in the first place – thanks for the prod Elspeth!
October 9th, 2008 | 11:11am
by Mark E
There are a couple of interesting articles in the October Pharma Times magazine that look at patient centric communication.
One talks about the need to move from a sales focus to a more complex patient driven outlook, and suggests that “understanding what goes on in a patient’s mind is central to compliance, requiring pharma to approach the market in new, and perhaps unfamiliar, ways”. Quoting Sanches Onorio, it states that “by putting yourself in the position of your patient, you can both improve patient compliance and profit from the experience”.
Another looks at putting the patient at the centre of patient programmes – bizarrely an approach so often overlooked in the planning stages of such activities.
Certainly both worth a read for anyone interested in connecting with patients, directly or otherwise.
October 13th, 2008 | 3:55pm
by Ben
Ben
Quite right. I think part of the problem is its quite difficult to put yourself in the patients position unless you can really relate to the condition. Thats why being able to validate behaviour is becoming so crucial. So often lack of compliance is active choice not passive. In terms of patient being in the centre, it seems crazy that they’re not. We’re hoping to change that! Thanks for the comment
Ian
October 14th, 2008 | 1:27pm
by Ian Busby