By Charlotte Vangsgaard, Mikkel Brok-Kristensen, and Mads Holme

Sarah has been living with her disease for thirteen years now. Her treatment plan involves regular visits to doctors as well as several different drugs. This month, like every other in the recent past, Sarah has held off on committing to events. Whether it is her granddaughter's recital or her husband's alumni lunch, Sarah responds to every invitation with the same answer: “We'll see.”

“We can never truly understand how to better design products, services and education until we understand how patients perceive the experience of living with their illness.”

“We'll see” is code for people like Sarah, patients trying to manage a life in the midst of chronic but erratic pain. It's ironic that Sarah's treatment plan excels at charting the long-term progression of her disease while giving her no way to chart its progress on a day-to-day basis. This leaves patients like Sarah feeling socially isolated with no way of predicting and preparing for daily activities. What if a pharmaceutical company were able to deliver the benefit of consistency to patients like Sarah?

Read the full article on ParmaExec.com here.

[Banner image by Sharon McCutcheon via Unsplash]