A pharma company planned to gather for a discussion in a secret digital space multinational representatives of Patient organizations (POs) working in the field of breast cancer.
Goals of the project:
- Understand better the lives of people with advanced breast cancer;
- What are the patient challenges while communicating with HCPs about their treatment;
- What are the effective digital solutions that could support both patient organizations and patients;
- How this pharma company could best support POs to overcome challenges – offering trustful information, support patient apps, patient education, etc.
The participants were expected to answer 2 groups of questions:
- Patient journey/ Patient engagement
- POs, communication and relation with media
Scope of the project:
- 12 participants
- 10 POs representatives from 8 countries in Europe participated
- 2 moderators – one leader of a national patient organization and one media representative working for breast cancer issues
- 16 questions in 2 groups
- 2 weeks duration
Digital Solution – 3-part Virtual Advisory Board in CredoWeb digital communication platform
The pharma team organized the virtual advisory board in 3 parts:
- One hour kick-off web call in which the participants, many of them patients themselves, introduced themselves and discussed issues of breast cancer patient organizations in their countries. The 2 moderators presented the VAB goals and gave valuable information about current status of treatment schemes, most worrying social issues and stigmas and also available financial schemes for support for POs and patients on a government level.
- Two-weeks written digital session in CredoWeb platform. A secret digital space was created in CredoWeb platform dedicated only for the invited participants. The platform was open 24/7 so the PO representatives were able to join multiple times at a time convenient for them. Pre-read support materials were uploaded for the participants.
- The VAB space was divided in 2 sections visiible to all participants: Patient journey/ Patient engagement; POs, communication and relation with media; Each section had its own discussion stream where the participants entered to comment and interact.
- Each block had a moderator. Questions were uploaded in advance in both blocks. In addition, both blocks were accessible for all participants to answer;
- Answer section below each question was available with answers published in a chronological order;
- Customized invitations for the start and reminders for unanswered questions and new opinions were sent to the participants;
- Pharma team members were able to follow each participant’s activity with the help of a customized Analytics Dashboard that was updated every 24 hours;
- After the conclusion of the two-week written session, a closing 1-hour digital conference provided the opportunity for moderators to analyze the answers of the participants and for all the participants to discuss once again the shared issues for advanced breast cancer patients.
Results:
- 161 answers to the 16 posted questions
- 310 total page views of participants for the 2-week period
- 23,9 average number of page views per participant for the period
- 4,9 average number of days in which the participants visited the VAB
- 8,7 average number of visits per participant for the period
After being initially shy in the digital activity, POs representatives started visiting the page of the Advisory Board almost on a daily bases and sharing their opinions, discussing among themselves the most problematic issues in their respective countries.
After the project’s end, one pharma executive shared: “I think we can all agree that event was a great success!”
How did we do it?
- The 2 moderators were engaged with comments and conclusions during the 2-week written VAB;
- The over-time approach made it more convenient for the participants to access the VAB page at time suitable for them;
- Some participants preferred to enter multiple times to read support materials and colleagues’ answers before providing their own answers;
- CredoWeb provided individual support on a daily basis for all participants during the VAB;
- Final reports with statistics for the whole activity were provided by CredoWeb team.
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