Let’s face it, most of us shudder at the thought of getting old and the prospect of our quality of life deteriorating.  We are happy to push ‘grey thoughts’ to the back of our minds and convince ourselves that by the time we get there, technology and medicine will have evolved to cope better.  Or we trust in policy-makers and the sheer weight of numbers to make things happen.  Is this wise?  This week’s announcement of a draft bill on overhauling care and support for elderly and disabled people may hold some clues.

It is easy to assume that Europe’s relatively strong economies insure adequate provision for older people, and that we are a fairly compassionate lot.  Yet ROAD’s recent work for SCA Hygiene’s Global Forum on Incontinence (GFI) in Copenhagen last month revealed that on the contrary, ‘rich’ states can no longer meet demand, and big policy changes are afoot. Interestingly, China placed the elderly at the centre of its current five year plan – and for good reason: By 2050, it is expected there will be around 430 million people aged over 65 in that country alone.  

Arch-capitalists point to a grey market ‘ripe for exploitation’ but let’s face it, does the attitude matter, so long as ‘improved quality if life’ is the ultimate outcome?  We created the infographic above as an instant indication of what many of us know, yet still wish to hide from.  Maybe it’s time to stop hiding and start shouting - for innovation.

ROAD has just won new business from Niagara Healthcare which manufactures the only beds and chairs independently certified and approved by MHRA* which use cyclo-massage^TM technology to alleviate pain.

*Medicines And Healthcare Regulatory Agency – part of the Department Of Health

It may feel bleak out there this midwinter, but there is nothing like a business win to help boost ‘that’ Christmas Feeling.  ROAD are proud and excited to be working with one of the world’s leading producers of medical diagnostic systems: Esaote.

The firm’s MD for Europe & Benelux at this leading manufacturer of ultrasound devices, Cor van der Flier, explains: “We were impressed with ROAD’s approach to communicating with the stakeholder groups in the NHS, and its understanding of how this might evolve with the emergence of new commissioning groups and the changing health landscape in the UK.”

Louise Stone, a new Director at ROAD, will be heading up the account.  Both she and the rest of the team will be doing what ROAD does best – in this case – boosting Esaote’s profile amongst relevant stakeholders during what promises to be a rapidly changing year for primary care.



Just over a year ago, the 7 year itch struck… My long-term, big-chain gym membership was put on ice in a ‘stress cutting mission’ – or so I dubbed it. It felt good cutting out the guilt earned by paying effectively £30 per visit.  Yet I have been left with a feeling that my long-term health is slipping out of my grip.

And I’m not alone. Last week’s article by Maeve Hosea in Marketing Week revealed that compared to a year ago, 12% fewer UK consumers feel in control of their health, as recorded by The Futures Company.  That’s 5% below the global average. So, are we Brits ‘control freaks’ or are we ‘eating more convenience foods on the run, working longer hours and finding less time to exercise’ as the research suggests? The real issue is highlighted by Radha Patel at The Futures Company: “There is health information out there, but people don’t necessarily know what to do with it.”

PUTTING CONSUMERS IN CONTROL

Patel suggests, “personalised health” will become a big trend in future.  ROAD would counter that, in fact, it’s already here.  We recently helped launch what many would consider the ‘ultimate’ in control – the first over-the-counter paternity testing kit available via Boots.  (Incidentally, the article mentioned above points out that in the USA, DNA is being analysed to create diet regimes based on the individual’s genetic profile.)  Likewise, The Core Wellness Programme was created for the global TENA brand, with messages tailored to the individual subscriber – as with Pfizer’s GoFactor campaign for heamophiliacs. ROAD is currently working with Philips, a true leader in the  healthcare-meets-wellbeing arena, supporting Patel’s view that, “technology that makes personal health become more accessible will continue to lead to change in the future.”

Healthcare brands which can communicate the benefits of their product or service to consumers in as tailored and useful a way as possible – rather than simply giving product or service information – will come out on top. Of course, there are many nuances involved in doing this: Persuading consumers to change their behaviour and so improve their health requires sophisticated research and analysis, plus painstaking message creation.  The joy is that consumers can be persuaded, and the time is now.

So, it’s back to the gym for me…  Something else is going to have to give!

Any busy communications agency deserves to be let loose once in a while –  something ROAD’s MD, Paul Jarman knows well.  So, true to agency tradition, off trooped ROAD to the highly salubrious Chiswick House Festival to hear six scorching hot bands, including Tinie Tempah (presumably playing W4 for the very first time), Noah And The Whale (all the way from Twickenham), the uber-exuberant Plan B, Stereophonics, Eliza Doolittle and Katie B.  Masters of ceremony such as Michael MacIntyre cued the talent, and the evening went from sophisticated garden party to mosh pit mayhem in the space of a single shot of Grey Goose. There were enough lobsters, crabs and prawns to throw a rod at, and house cocktails and celebrities in unlimited supply.  Even the over 40s were dancing.  The rest, as they say, is history. Here are a few happy memories. Till the next one…

Patients with chronic, long-term illnesses require life-long support, management and medication from healthcare providers if they are to live their life to the full. Yet, it’s easy to under-estimate the immense degree of continual self-discipline and ‘faith’ in their treatment required by the patient.

This is bourn out through the statistics, which are strikingly intransigent, and this pattern is similar throughout the developed world, with 20-50% of patients not taking their medicine as prescribed.  These individuals are said to be ‘non-adherent’, and it goes without saying that non-adherence has fairly huge implications all round.

Crucially, evidence shows that the first three months of a patient’s compliancy to medication are critical, as this is the period when behaviour patterns are established.  After the first six months, adherence tends to drop sharply.  So, is pharma doing enough to improve the situation?  For sure, there are both financial and a CSR imperatives at stake.

Certainly, the diversity and sophistication of digital and data tools now available to business means there is simply no excuse for pharma not to be in direct contact with patients.  The advantages? Better educated, supported, engaged and motivated audiences, whose new attitudes and behaviours result in improved personal and commercial outcomes

There are three main options for non-adherence in terms of intervention:-

-         Behavioural approaches

-         Education / providing information

-         Involvement from healthcare professionals

Leading a horse to water is just the first step

The key with all of the above is insuring PSPs reach their audience in a meaningful way. Understanding why a patient stops taking their medication is crucial, but so too is creating a meaning for them to take it.  There is no point leading a horse to water if you don’t let him know that the water is safe, suggest the best way of approaching the water’s edge, how long to drink for, and explain why drinking water is good for him, plus tell his owner know he’ll need reminding again tomorrow. And so on.

What makes for a meaningful PSP?

Understanding what the patient needs is the foundation for any inspirational patient support programme, and requires deep ethnographic research into the targetted patients.  Thinking from an ‘end-user’ perspective will help shape the way PSP will impact upon both patient and healthcare provider.  Successful PSPs also motivate healthcare professionals:  If they understand and believe in what you advocate, they will do all they can to help you reach the patient.

How to ensure your patient support programme is successful

There are four main factors:

1.  Clearly define the change you want to make

2. Define the level of HCP support that can reasonably be expected

3. Engagement: Drive visitors to the initiative site, monitor whether e-communications are read, seek completion of relevant surveys

4. Measure changes in compliance and patient well-being

5. Measure satisfaction via positive perception of the programme and recommendation to others

A note of caution: PSPs can act as a ‘lifeline’ for patients when they most need it, but there’s a fine line between ‘offering’ support and ‘instructing’ patients on how best to live their lives.  Tone, content and information are all vital to reaching the audience in a meaningful way.  Listening to, reacting to and engaging with your patients are actions which need to be fully integrated if a PSP is to be successful in the long term.  It’s important to keep asking, “Is this a two-way conversation, or a ‘push’ only?”

Non-adherence is something which is part ‘human nature’ and part ‘lack of support’. It is an issue which needs addressing urgently: Helping to insure good outcomes and quality of life in patients is something pharmas need to feel proud of.

An article in this month’s PME (Pharmaceutical Marketing Europe) stopped ROAD in its tracks.  It’s a profile of Roch Doliveux, the CEO of Belgium-based biopharmaceuticals group, UCB, which specialises in neurology and immunology drugs.  Why was the piece so arresting?  In a nutshell, it was the group’s commitment to putting patients at the centre of UCB’s activities.  To pharmaceutical firms, ‘Customer’ usually translates as ‘Healthcare Professional’ i.e. hospital, GP, nurse.  It does not equate to ‘Patient’.  Yet, Doliveux maintains that putting patient needs at the centre of activities means market share and profits will follow automatically.  He admits this strategy may not work for all, but explains his firm has learnt from successful companies in consumer-facing industries, citing BMW and Apple as examples.

So, as the French (and Belgians) say, ‘Vive La Difference’.  But is this strategy simply a case of ‘change for change’s sake’?  For sure, Doliveux is critical of the ‘bad old days’ when psychiatrists wanted a cure for schizophrenia, and went about developing lab rats with the condition, rather than starting with the patient.  (He trained as a vet.) At first glance, some of Doliveux’s comments might seem idealistic. Yet, as the wounds inflicted by  spending cuts start to be un-bandaged and examined, and prognoses pronounced, strategies are changing.  Changes in thinking are required now for an industry which faces large-scale patent expiries, cutbacks in R&D, and ablated fiscal spending.  Not to mention the huge need for drugs to treat the ageing baby boomer generation which is information-savvy, and actively seeking optimum solutions and service to match.

Earlier this year, Pfizer put haemophilia patients at the heart of its strategy via the Go!Factor patient support programme, produced with ROAD.  Go!Factor provides advice for heamophilia patients (all male) and their families, at key stages of life – including those tricky-to-reach adolescents.  Hard to broach subjects – sex and alcohol for instance – are tackled head-on, being even higher on the list of concerns for the teenage male who can bruise or bleed easily.  Comparing their ‘Top 10 Wishes’ with those of non-sufferers is a moving exercise: 1. A life without needles or pain  2. Nice car  3. Good job… – versus – 1. Sports car,  2.Hot girlfriend  3. Lots of money…

Returning to UCB, its mission statement is bold and brave: “UCB aspires to be the patient-centric global biopharmaceutical leader, transforming the lives of people living with serious diseases.”  This, as Doliveux admits, is both an enabler and “a huge responsibility.”  However, responsibilities can be shared: Understanding and acting upon patient needs and sensitivities successfully, is precisely where ROAD can help.

Remember that line from the REM song of 1987?  It’s one of those songs which has welded itself to our collective consciousness to be sung with grim humour in moments of crisis.   For sure, a lot seems wrong in the world, judging from news bulletins right now.  However, with the dreamy Brian Cox filling our Sunday evenings with his Wonders of the Universe, many of us have been pondering on a larger scale about where we’re going, when, and why…  Somehow, the bigger questions help put all the bad news into perspective.

In our house, there’s been much debate about what what’ll happen to all the matter in the universe at its end, but that’s another story.  What we do know is that all the elements that make up our bodies came from ‘out there’, and that heavy metals such as gold and platinum are created in the intensely hot 15 seconds which occur when a star dies.  Now that’s got to be value for money.  Furthermore, according to Cox, all the gold ever mined on our planet would only fill 3 Olympic sized swimming pools.  It’s enough to send the price per ounce sky-rocketing even higher!

As a healthcare communications agency, ROAD live and breathe science, and we’re passionate about communicating scientific fact to a public which often perceive science as ‘scary’, ‘dull’, ‘confusing’, ‘risky’, ‘cynical’ – or a mixture of all.  We pride ourselves on being able to identify, construct and deliver key messages for the public, patients, consusmers and healthcare professionals – which are clear and understandable.

As far the deep and meaningful questions go, we’re happy to take those on too – especially with a little help from our friend, Professor Cox.  We’ll even forgive his not-so-timeless hit made in a former guise as part of D:Ream, ‘Things Can Only Get Better’. Well, they have done for him, and we’re quite happy to benefit too.

In today’s ever more complex and specialist world of healthcare, e-learning is seen by many as the best solution for professional development – for everything from infection control to intensive care nursing to brain surgery.  Added to this the many possibilities afforded by the internet, iPads and the like, and the cost-conscious enivoronment in which we live, and the decision by Edge Hill University to develop its e-learning specialism as a distinct operating business is a pretty smart one.

ROAD is advising Edge Hill University’s Faculty of Health on moving its commercial e-learning business forward.  The University, known for being ‘ahead of the curve’ in the e-learning arena, plans to grow the business as part of its general diversification strategy, helping to secure valuable, new revenue streams.

The Faculty will build on the commercial opportunities it has been developing alongside its graduate and post graduate learning specialisms.  ROAD is to advise on the creation of a new commercial identity for the e-learning business, as well as on market positioning, and a strategy for a long-term marketing programme.

Brian Smith, Head of Technology Enhanced Learning at Edge Hill explains: “Edge Hill provides learning programmes for students and partners in the health and social care sectors.  Recently, we created a new online store of ‘flexible’ e-learning sessions for Care UK ( one of the nation’s biggest independent providers of health services).  We will be commercially developing this further, by considering how other technologies such as mobile and wireless devices can assist in changing healthcare: Our aim is to stay at the cutting edge of this business.

“No-one is more advanced in providing bespoke e-learning than Edge Hill.  As a very specialist and relatively unknown centre for e-learning in healthcare, we have always had to be adaptable.  E-learning has become a core speciality across the Faculty of Health’s portfolio, with many local health partners inviting us to contribute to their e-learning projects.  Reputation and demand continue to grow, and we now feel we can make a global impact on the future of health care.”

It’s a rare and cherishable moment when a PR company manages to secure the equivalent of three-quarters of a million pounds worth of advertising for a new client.  All the more so in the tightly-regulated, ethically-bound world of healthcare.  So, today is one to cherish: ROAD has proved the value of good PR, and is extremely proud to announce exactly that: £750,000 of coverage for Anglia DNA’s assuredna paternity/maternity test, secured via a carefully-managed launch of the UK’s first on-shelf testing kit, which is now available at Boots.

The launch was not something ROAD took on lightly back in October 2010, and we knew it would cause a fair amount of controversy, in the light of daytime TV shows featuring lurid coverage of parentage issues.  However, ROAD’s expertise and well-balanced presentation to the media meant all stages of the campaign were met with success.

Overall, the decision by Boots (healthcare’s very own ‘family brand’) to stock the product indicated the power of ‘peace of mind’ over ‘revelation’, and it won.  Indeed, Anglia has always maintained that the majority of its customers receive the results they were expecting in the first place, and points out that over half the tests it performs are for infants younger than a year old.

Which only leaves us wondering when we’ll next be up with the birds at 5am to make the breakfast shows!

Click on this link to view the assuredna case study

When it comes to the world of social media, most of us seem to fall into 3 camps: 1. Real Worlders: “I hate the whole thing! You won’t catch ME using Facebook, Twitter etc. MY colleagues, friends and contacts are in the REAL world. Who wants to have their dirty washing aired in public? It’s all ego-driven madness and marketing. Besides, ‘Big Brother’ may be watching, and I mean he of ’1984′ – not Channel4!”

2. PermaScrnrs: “I’m happily addicted. It helps my career and my business. Do it or die (commercially). The broader you broadcast, the better.  Wt’s up nxt + hw cn I gt it ystrday?”

3. On-the-Fencers: “I dip in and I dip out.  I probably don’t spend enough time on social networking, and am possibly out-of-the-loop with the latest options. For now I do as much as possible, but I’m only just keeping my head above water. Social networking’s like sleep: Essential, but impossible to delegate…”

SO… Which are YOU?  Are you going with the flow or swimming against the tide?  When it comes to the business of PR, social networking is ideal for generating ‘earnt’ rather than ‘paid for’ endorsement.  People love to recommend products and services.  It’s part of our highly-evolved, hard-wired drive to help others, which has far from disappeared, despite what the cynics say.  Wikipedia is a case in point.  It’s the culmination of 100 million human hours of time – all of which were unpaid.

However some firms perceive a lack of control over social networking, and fear of the worst – a damaged reputation for instance – rather than focussing on the benefits to be reaped.  With time though, and further positive case studies, ROAD believes this balance will shift.

Key to successful social networking is insuring content is fresh and interesting, integrating all platforms, monitor feedback constantly, and respond immediately whenever possible.   The fact Google recently announced that Facebook and Twitter posts boost a company’s ranking in search engines means the only remaining question  is: How much longer do sceptics feel they can hold back the waves?