Understanding unmet needs in glaucoma treatment in the US and UK as a basis for innovation
Problem context
Our client, a major Japanese pharmaceutical company were keen to understand sufferers of glaucoma in the US and UK - specifically how they could help improve adherence to eye-drops and prevent avoidable progression of the disease.
Insight Dojo were brought on board to investigate the topic with a view to uncover insights that would guide the development of a set of patient centric services.
Our approach
To get a first-hand experience of patient experience, we conducted ethnography with 12 patients. Additionally, we conducted 18 depth interviews with opthalmologists, optometrists, and glaucoma surgeons.
Our ethnography covered sufferers in London, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York.
Insights
Our in-going hypothesis was that patient severity would be the biggest driver of patient need and should therefore be the basis for a segmentation against which new ideas could be developed.However, it soon became clear that there were many other aspects that were driving sufferers’ behaviours and needs, most prominently their financial situation, access to insurance and ‘self-efficacy’ (or belief in their ability to cope).
The client had also believed that a lack of understanding of the condition was the main reason for non-adherence. Spending time with sufferers, however, revealed adherence to be a multi-dimensional issue with a mixture of emotional, physical, and financial drivers that varied by the segments.
By understanding these differences, we were able to provide clear recommendations on the problems that the new patient services should seek to address
Impact
The insights led to the development of a set of patient archetypes that is being used to guide R&D, with the identified reasons for non-adherence providing a framework against which potential solutions are being developed.
Capturing the coping mechanisms of a man in San Francisco who found it hard to adhere to his medication.
The ethnographic exercise proved to be extremely revealing. Sufferers vividly demonstrated the challenges they faced with their medication – showing us ‘props’ they used to help them administer their medication - and demonstrating the rituals they had developed in their homes to help cope with their condition.
