Discovering the Parkinson’s Disease patients pathway towards DBS
There are few things as important to our clients as having insights in their patients and the journey they’re undertaking. And that’s exactly what this case is about: our client wanted to know the exact pathway of Parkinson patients – and the exact moment they decide to go for DBS. With this knowledge, they could adjust their messaging towards their patients and only reach out when the patient is in need of being reached out to. Or, in other words: we helped our client draw up a patient journey, including the patients’ key decision moments when the (option for) DBS comes into play.
The question
Our client came to us with a very clear need: getting better insights on the experiences and journeys of Parkinson’s Disease patients.
The main objectives of this study were to map their journey (from referral to DBS follow-up), finding out more about the received treatment options, discovering which information sources they use and figuring out which are their decision criteria.
The end goal
With all this information, our client could continue to the second part of this project (in which we won’t go into detail in this case study): using this research in order to come up with perfect patient messaging. They were looking for ins with the patient – but only at the right time and at the right moment: when they are open to DBS.
When having the completely mapped out patient journey in hand, our client knew the key decision moments of their patients – and they could adapt their messaging and platforms according to their patients’ needs.
Our approach
For this study, we conducted 64 qualitative in-depth telephone interviews all over the US, Germany, Italy and Spain. We talked to Parkinson’s Disease patients both with and without implants.
For this patient empowerment study, we asked our interviewees questions about their personal journey: from the first symptoms up to their choice to go for DBS. We took into consideration every choice they could’ve made, where they’ve gotten their information and what their personal perceived benefits and concerns were when it comes to DBS.
We also asked them about their involvement in this choice and their personal say in the matter. Next to this we asked them about their overall perception and satisfaction. We came up with an elaborate pathway, including four key decision moments.
The results
At the end of this research, we ended up with all the information our client needed to proceed to the second stage:
- Insight into Parkinson’s disease patient pathway and four key decision points they should take into consideration.
- A better understanding of how patients get their information and involvement in treatment decision making.
- A more clear understanding of how influential a patient is in the different steps in the decision process considering DBS.
