Immersing Yourself in a Position. – Daiichi Sankyo’s “Healthcare Café” event hosts dialogue with patients (Part TWO)

April 07, 2023

Patient Centricity

Part 2: the second session ("Immersing yourself in a position)

The following article is the second half of the article on Daiichi Sankyo’s "Healthcare Café" event. To learn details about the event itself and the first session, please click here

Cards on the floor:

The roles frrm which the participants could choose
"Patient", "Society", "HCP", "Pharma","Colleague", "Patient family"

Is belief enough to continue delivering medicines? To find the answer, companies need to get together and talk

The second half of the event was led by Ms. Natsuko Yamada, CEO of Shigoto Soken, Inc., who also conducted the graphic facilitation in the first half of the event. This part of the session was called "immersing yourself in a position," and it was a workshop designed to help participants gain a deeper understanding of a "world where people suffering from illnesses live their lives being true to themselves."

The workshop started with the room split into areas for six different roles: cancer patient; family of the patient; the patient’s colleague or supervisor; pharmaceutical company; doctor/medical professional; and “society at large.” Participants were instructed to go to each area and reflect on their roles. They then moved to the area for the role in which they gained most insight and shared their thoughts with people who gathered in the same area:

"I’ve joined the pharmaceutical company’s area – this is the only one where it wasn’t immediately obvious what I could do."

"Mr. Sakai’s talk has made me realize the need to feel you have a place at work, so I’ve joined the “patient’s colleague or supervisor” space. These people may not be family, but they are still part of the patient’s world."

"I’m a cancer survivor myself. Through this session, I started thinking that I would like to be a bridge between patients and pharmaceutical companies."

Small-group session. Discussing what pharmaceutical companies could do for them.

At the end of the workshop, the groups sat together in circles and discussed what pharmaceutical companies could do to create a world that enabled people to live a life of being true to themselves:

“We hardly have any opportunity to hear patients’ voices. Doctors are busy people and it’s hard for them to listen to what individual patients have to say other than about their conditions. Listening to patients and amplifying their voices is something we can step in to do.”

“It’s inevitable that drug discovery work for rare diseases will hit a wall at some point. But that’s where there are people in real need. I haven’t found the answer myself yet."

"Is belief enough to continue delivering medicines? To find the answer, companies need to get together and talk. I feel that a place like this event offers a potential way to include patients’ voices in drug discovery."

Responding to participants’ comments, Mr. Kishida expressed his support for the Healthcare Café initiative and said, "Now that I’ve finally been able to deliver patients’ voices to you, I feel that times are changing. In order to change society, it’s important to take the first step forward."

Mr. Okada, a member of COMPASS delivered the closing remarks.

The second Healthcare Café event was concluded with Mr. Okada’s message: "Please take these big questions about the future back with you – that’s the value of this place."

After the Healthcare Café event ended, members of the pharmaceutical companies exchanged post-event comments and thoughts:

"When we develop products, we consider things like the size, dosing method, and the flavor of tablets, but the comment about the frustration of having to take ten tablets each time has made me realize for the first time that it’s not enough to think only about our own products."

"I knew about medicines that have side effects that can persist long after you stop taking the medication, but the reality of that has hit home for me.”

The event has given participants an opportunity to reflect on the thoughts and feelings of cancer patients as human beings and to think about what they could do, as well as the meaning and value of working at a pharmaceutical company.

*A communication technique that uses graphics to create a visual representation of conversations in real time in order to facilitate dynamic interactions and deeper mutual understanding, leading to a sense of agency, meaning a feeling of “making something happen,” among the participants.

Short movie of the event.

Defolt mute setting. Beware of the unmute volume.

All attendees including the staffs from four pharmaceutical companies.

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