Born Since 1990? Your Risk of Colorectal Cancer Just Went Up

Born Since 1990? Your Risk of Colorectal Cancer Just Went Up By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD MSPH The age at which people at average risk of colon cancer should start being screened used to be 50.2 In May 2021, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force lowered it to 45. It’s been lowered because the age at which people are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) is going down even as the survival rate of people with CRC over 50 is improving.1 My son, he’s 28, was diagnosed in September 2019 with stage 4 rectal cancer, the tumor was [...]

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Aug 2021By |0 Comments

The Life Changing Diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The Life Changing Diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD MSPH ​​ I've had UC for 4 years also. Diagnosed with a colonoscopy after 5 months of diarrhea, losing 1/3rd of my otherwise normal weight and enough blood to require a 2-pint transfusion. Pausing a conversation to use the restroom is biologically necessary, but can be socially awkward. People living with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) find themselves saying “Excuse me” many more times a day than they would like and experience pain with symptoms nobody enjoys talking about. The two most common inflammatory bowel diseases [...]

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Aug 2021By |0 Comments

New Treatments Create Buzz Among Patients with Prostate Cancer and their Caregivers

New Treatments Create Buzz Among Patients with Prostate Cancer and their Caregivers By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD MSPH Prostate cancer is highly treatable in its early stages, much less so once it has metastasized, where the five-year survival rate is below 30%. In search of more treatment options, a patient with advanced prostate cancer wrote on Inspire: I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in [date]. Have done virtually every procedure including the de Vinci surgery (cancer had gotten outside into my lymph nodes, so prostate was not removed), radiation, hormone treatments, and chemo therapy. Periodic bone scans showed the [...]

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Jul 2021By |0 Comments

Caregiving in the Time of COVID

Caregiving in the Time of COVID By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH with contributing writer/Inspire member Peigi Chace On Inspire alone, 41,000+ members have written over 19,000 posts about Coronavirus. An Inspire Coronavirus support group has been formed. Real world voice analysis of caregiver posts on Inspire reveal the desperation caregivers have been experiencing during the pandemic. my husband is on a vent in the hospital. I haven’t seen him since the ambulance came and drove off. They can’t get him off vent which, by the way, was introduced to break through blockage in the carotid artery to [...]

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Feb 2021By |0 Comments

What’s Pharma’s Key to Success in 2021?

What's Pharma's Key to Success in 2021? By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH What commercial and clinical trends can we expect to shape pharma and biotech as the pandemic continues into 2021? What can your company do to make 2021 a better year? In August, Deloitte surveyed 60 marketing leaders of biopharma companies and published the findings. Fully 80% of respondents expected changes in “consumer attitudes, behaviors, and spending” to have the biggest impact on their company over the coming year.1,2 This supports Deloitte’s 2019 report anticipating a “consumer-centered future of health,” including the consumer’s increased willingness to [...]

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Jan 2021By |0 Comments

Does Your Marketing Campaign Go Full Circle?

Does Your Marketing Campaign Go Full Circle? By Jeff Terkowitz Imagine being able to learn about your audience, test your messages with that audience, directly reach your target audience and then evaluate the campaign - all in one place. It’s possible. But let’s back up. Advertisers already understand the value of knowing their audience and testing their messages. The power of research-backed health communications is used at the federal level too in outreach campaigns. The “Pink Book” is the primer that the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and all government agencies [...]

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Dec 2020By |0 Comments

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 pharma marketing context, it seems as if the participant in the study is almost always presumed to be the prescriber. More than one source researched for this article was written with that assumption. For example, an article on current updates on how ATUs are implemented [...]

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Jun 2020By |0 Comments

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 Real World Evidence (RWE). A recently-conducted multi-center prospective observational study accomplished both by using patients as partners throughout clinical design. The PROP-UP study was a designed to collect real world patient centered data on the harms and benefits of the new, highly effective, direct-acting antiviral [...]

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May 2020By |0 Comments

Patient Support Needs Patient Input

Patient Support Needs Patient Input By Jeff Terkowitz Here’s a patient support marketing scenario: You’re in charge of creating a patient support program that reaches out past the point of prescription. The drug you’re supporting is a molecule that requires long-term adherence to be effective. You’re looking for end-to-end results. You’re undoubtedly considering a range of options from nurse follow-up calls to automated text reminders to remote patient monitoring with wearables. Perhaps you need choose between specialty pharmacies or hubs or are involved in creating a training program so specialty pharmacies can provide the best patient support [...]

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May 2020By |0 Comments

Exploring Treatment Options with Others Online: Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

Exploring Treatment Options with Others Online: Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD MSPH According to the CDC, in 2015, an estimated 1.3 percent of US adults (3 million) reported being diagnosed with irritable bowel diseases (IBD): either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.1 There are 70,000 new cases diagnosed every year.2 These immune-mediated diseases can cause destructive inflammation and can permanently harm the intestines. Symptoms can include diarrhea with fever, abdominal pain and cramping and fatigue among others.3 Every patient’s symptoms vary in type, severity, and frequency, so Inspire members go online to discuss their [...]

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May 2020By |0 Comments