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“I need to breathe” — Living with Asthma: Patient Experiences, Old Challenges, New Drugs

"I need to breathe" — Living with Asthma: Patient Experiences, Old Challenges, New Drugs By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD MSPH Earlier this month, the American Lung Association (ALA), Inspire’s partner for the “Living with Asthma” online community, announced that it is looking for patient panelists to participate in a PFDD (Patient-Focused Drug [...]

Bringing Patients and the Life Science Industry Together: Patient Advocacy +

Bringing patients and the life science industry together: Patient Advocacy + By Robert Schultz “Progress is personal,” according to Bob Coughlin, President and CEO of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio) and the father of a graduating high school senior with cystic fibrosis (CF). Coughlin’s keynote opened a unique virtual event called Patient [...]

Why Limit Awareness Trial Usage Surveys (ATUs) to HCPs? Patients and Caregivers Provide Needed Insights

Why Limit Awareness Trial Usage Surveys (ATUs) to HCPs? Patients and Caregivers Provide Needed Insights By Richard Tsai One online glossary defining ATUs (Awareness, Trial, and Usage studies) described them, in part, as “survey[s] to measure consumer awareness, trial, and product usage for a product category and/or brand...” But in a [...]

Patients Enroll In Studies When They Have a Voice: Real World Study Succeeds with Patient Voice

Patients Enroll In Studies When They Have a Voice: Real World Study Succeeds with Patient Voice By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH The most persistent hurdle in running a clinical trial is recruiting and keeping participants. More recently, the FDA added the expectation that the value of released drugs be supported with [...]

Inspire’s MS Community Overcomes Patient Isolation with Peer-to-Peer Support and Experience

Inspire’s MS Community Overcomes Patient Isolation with Peer-to-Peer Support and Experience By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH Over 15,000 members of Inspire have interest in, searched for, or have posted about multiple sclerosis (MS). Members have written over 4000 posts and more than 2000 searches have been conducted on MS. Pharmaceutical marketers [...]

What Touchpoints Influence Drug Compliance for Chronic Illnesses?

What Touchpoints Influence Drug Compliance for Chronic Illnesses? By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH Recent marketing research from Google shows that it takes 50-500 touchpoints to influence a purchase decision. While the study focused on common non-medical purchases (headphones, airline flights, beauty products, and candy), the authors point out an important shift [...]

No “One Size Fits All” Solution to Improve Clinical Trial Participation

No "One Size Fits All"Solution to Improve Clinical Trial Participation By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH Clinical trial study designers are trying to find ways to increase participation and reduce dropout. According to three recent studies, the reasons patients give for not participating in clinical trials vary depending on a number of [...]