Behavioral Strategies Improve Patient Adherence
Biopharma utilizes behavioral science more than ever to understand patients, personalize engagement, and motivate therapy adherence. Using a proprietary patient engagement model, Momentum Life Sciences has improved patient support from contemplation to action and then maintenance.
Benefits of Behavioral Strategies
Behavioral science strategies consider each individual, factoring their tendencies and circumstances. This enables a personalized experience for patients. Individuals learn in different ways, so therapeutic instruction and information is adapted to increase the patient’s comfort level. Cultural aspects may influence the learning process, or even acceptance of the therapy, and here, too, behavioral science strategies can be employed in order to influence an improved patient outcome.
VMS BioMarketing has developed a model for motivating patients, called Empowering Interactions™
Motivational Interviewing
One of the techniques utilized by VMS Clinical Nurse Educators is Motivational Interviewing (MI),an evidence-based approach from cognitive and social psychology. It recognizes people have different levels of readiness for behavioral change. There is a behavioral cycle that includes pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and then relapse or termination.
MI Principles and Basis
MI is meant to encourage and strengthen trusting relationships between patients and healthcare providers (HCP). The HCP takes a personal approach to the patient characterized by:
Communication Strategies: The OARS Model
Another strategy VMS uses is the OARS communication model. Its design and intention are to help the HCP elicit change talk and respond to the patient in a way that supports movement toward patient-identified change.
Another strategy VMS uses is the OARS communication model. Its design and intention are to help the HCP elicit change talk and respond to the patient in a way that supports movement toward patient-identified change.
Open-ended questions
Allows the nurse to build empathy, unpeel the layers of ambivalence, and consider factors affecting one’s motivation for change or resistance to change
Affirming and supporting
Affirms the patient’s behaviors and abilities, builds rapport, provides clarity, and helps to validate the patient’s actions toward behavior change
Reflective listening
Statements generated from reflective listening represent the patient’s own words, beliefs, feelings, or behaviors
Summarizing
Restating the main points of what the patient said allows them to correct or affirm what the nurse thought they heard during the conversation
Open-ended questions
Allows the nurse to build empathy, unpeel the layers of ambivalence, and consider factors affecting one’s motivation for change or resistance to change
Affirming and supporting
Affirms the patient’s behaviors and abilities, builds rapport, provides clarity, and helps to validate the patient’s actions toward behavior change
Reflective listening
Statements generated from reflective listening represent the patient’s own words, beliefs, feelings, or behaviors
Summarizing
Restating the main points of what the patient said allows them to correct or affirm what the nurse thought they heard during the conversation
Adherence Benefits to Patients and Pharma
Effective patient engagement leads to numerous benefits including increased adherence. Establishment of a trusting relationship can be an invaluable asset in helping patients achieve their desired outcome. Behavioral science and strategies help those relationships form and motivate patients to remain consistent in their therapy adherence.
Biopharma companies benefit from this high-level of personal engagement. The deep level of personalized service leads to improved brand perception, and this can establish good will at the onset of a therapy. When every factor contributes to therapy success, behavioral models help pharma and HCPs motivate patients to start and stay on therapy. HCPs gain insights into their patients while the biopharma manufacturers are able to gather more information about patients and their therapy perceptions and challenges. Behavioral science provides opportunities to ensure better outcomes for all participants.
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