Reimagined product information of the future: the people perspective.
By Professor Lynne Corner, Director, VOICE and Deputy Director, NICA
NICA and VOICE members have enjoyed working closely with Pfizer, Kent Surrey Sussex AHSN and partners, as part of a programme of work looking at how people in the UK access and understand their prescription medicines, magnifying the perspective and real, personal voice of people from a wide range of backgrounds. The individual citizen profiles produced capture the unique circumstances of different people, with insights to better understand how they manage their conditions, what their pain points are and their many practical suggestions for improving the way information is produced and shared, especially interrogating the patient information leaflet.
For sure – one size doesn’t fit all. The full report can be accessed here.
We found that people of course want to be able to easily search for, find and access trusted, accurate, reliable, and up to date information. People suggested there was more that could be done to make the information easy to follow, understand and interpret. They provided a range of suggestions for improving the information, how it could be shared in a range of different formats, for example, – which reflected different levels of health literacy but which also just made the information more accessible and easier to see – which is true for most of us, given the usual size of print!
What really struck us though was the appetite for innovation from people we spoke with. People were really open and keen to explore novel digital solutions. They were actively seeking information which is personalised and tailored to their particular needs and circumstances. For some people, industry and regulation is lagging behind patient preference and demand, with people expressing impatience, frustration about this – and the pace of change.
Recognising how personal their experience is, customised, tailored approaches, they said, should be the new normal. They are both interested – and ready – to reimagine the information of the future.
There’s huge opportunity for collaboration between a wide range of industry and regulatory partners – to ensure data-driven solutions are co-developed with people. There’s real potential to maximise adherence, reduce costs and improve outcomes. We are looking forward to continuing to work together on this – our bottom line how reimagined product information of the future can ultimately improve people’s quality of life and experience globally.