The need
A new treatment for patients with short bowel syndrome was shown to be more effective than an existing treatment, but there was an urgent need to educate healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients in order to overcome two barriers preventing them from switching:
- patient view was to accept the new ‘normal’: a severely reduced quality of life (QoL)
- although the new treatment was shown to be more effective, patients felt significantly worse in the short term, leading to a lack of belief in the treatment’s effectiveness.
Our approach
It was key for us to understand the patient perspective. Firstly, we profiled patients and patient pathways to understand the need, the wider benefit of new treatment (to patients, carers and society) and what differentiated the new treatment to the existing one.
Secondly, we identified key barriers to treatment uptake in the launch country but also considered other countries too.
With these insights, we utilised our Belief Continuum® to identify the behavioural (and belief) changes required to change perceptions around the new treatment approach. We worked directly with the nursing team to help them to understand patient concerns for the new treatment, enabling them to educate patients on its overall benefits.
Lastly, we developed educational materials for patients, nurses and other HCPs who were focused on their expectations from the new therapy.
The outcome
Thanks to the educational campaign, newly diagnosed patients were no longer happy to ‘settle’ for a poor QoL, and they felt empowered to communicate and advocate change.
