In a world of scientific absolutes and mathematical rigour, it can be difficult to find a place for emotional capital; feelings don’t lend themselves to the disciplines of comparator arms, pharmacovigilance reports and clinical endpoints.
But how new therapies flow from industry to patients via healthcare professionals (HCPs) is determined by the chemistry that drives personal relationships as well as the science, even though each party can be motivated by conflicting interests, use different language and have a propensity to find fault rather than understanding.
Differences can seem intractable and solutions distant but healthcare has its own relationship counselling service available in the form of shared decision-making (SDM), the process where everyone prioritises listening, understanding and communicating to find mutual ground.
This medical mediation is more than an exercise in human dynamics and its influence is growing as it becomes increasingly valued as a tool to optimise patient needs, support healthcare systems and advance the reach and success of new therapies. The benefits of patient/HCP unions radiate across patient populations and pharma performance.
A British Medical Journal paper by Victor M Montori et al that examined SDM as a distinct method of care stated: ‘Every consultation with a patient is an opportunity to get care right – intellectually, practically and emotionally – for that person using SDM as a method of care.’ Tellingly, it added: ‘Patients and clinicians can find problems that matter along with possible ways of addressing them, deciding among the possibilities, and putting it all together in a plan that the patient wants, is likely to help, and is feasible and sustainable. Within the constraints of any situation, including systemic constraints, SDM is a method of creating the best care; it is also the human, kind and caring thing to do – the sort of thing that breathes life, joy and purpose into the practice of medicine.’
‘Listen to each other’
Matt Eagles, Head of Patient Voice at global healthcare communications agency Havas Lynx, is convinced that uniting clinical expertise with lived patient experience can create a potent force, saying: “SDM is crucial to the future of healthcare. It has the potential to be the glue that keeps systems like the NHS together by uniting patients and HCPs.
“Too often we focus on the needs of one or the other in isolation when it needs to be both. If HCPs and patients actively listen to each other and communicate with empathy, the results will be so much better for everyone. Patients will feel more compelled to better follow treatment plans because they will be more aware of the reasoning behind them.”
Read the article in full here.