Moving towards a shared decision making partnership model

Nirmala Singh, formerly Patient Engagement Director at the National Kidney Foundation shares her views about the effect patient engagement will have on the healthcare sector in a video filmed at the DIA 2016 conference:

“From a patient advocacy point of view patient engagement is about creating a medicine development programme where patients’ voices and experiences are included from the very beginning stages of the lifecycle and inform the entire process.
Patients need to be embedded in the patient engagement process because ultimately they are the end user of the drugs and services that are to be created. When patients have a more engaged perspective and are speaking up, informing and engaging in their own health care, the end result is better services and drugs.
Any patient looking to be involved in patient engagement – whether it’s through technology, advisory, or through policy – will be contributing to an eventual improvement of quality of life for themselves and fellow patients because of the drugs that are being developed with their input.
I think patient engagement is going to have a significant impact on the healthcare sector. I think care is going to become more of a partnership model that will move away from a patriarchal or parental type physician patient relationship. In the future, I think patients will feel more empowered and be part of a shared decision-making process in terms of their treatment and care.
What PFMD is doing at a global level and implementing nationally and locally is new, it’s important and it’s needed. It’s working with the full diversity of stakeholders across the medicines development lifecycle and across different industries and it’s really bringing the players together to the table. I think that’s very inspiring.”
Watch the video to find out more .
PFMD welcomes membership from institutions, organisations and enterprises that support a better future for patients. Join us and help shape the patient engagement landscape.