Situation
A 2020 World Health Organization report on Thailand showed that nearly 1 in 10 cancer cases among males were in the prostate, making it the seventh most common form of cancer for men in Thailand.
If detected at an early stage, prostate cancer can often be treated. However, the disease is unique in that it often develops slowly over many years with no symptoms appearing until its later stages. As a result, many men in Thailand weren’t discovering their cancer until it had become more dangerous and had spread to other parts of the body.
This danger highlighted several problems in need of solving: A lack of proper diagnostic tools in Thailand made early detection of prostate cancer difficult. There was also limited awareness among patients about the importance of detecting the disease early. Once the cancer was identified, financial barriers blocked access to life-saving treatment.
Solution
Axios believes that effective treatment adherence programs are personalized to the needs of individual patients. To design a more effective solution to help patients stay on treatment, Axios turned to its proprietary Patient Needs Assessment Tool (PNAT).
PNAT assesses the risk factors that could lead the patient to stop treatment and helps determine the most effective adherence interventions for that particular patient based on his/her identified risk factors. It was built around the five dimensions of adherence set by the World Health Organization (WHO). It uses a qualitative and semi-quantitative questionnaire to identify and document individual patient risk factors and apprehensions that may lead to poor adherence or discontinuation of treatment. The results are then used to develop a personalized adherence plan targeting these risk factors to support patients in their treatment journey.
In the case of MS patients in Saudi Arabia, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, local MS patient associations and other parties, the following services were made available to improve treatment adherence and improve a patient’s quality of life:
- Educational sessions for patients to increase awareness and knowledge about MS and treatment
- An on-demand support careline to receive and answer patient queries
- Ongoing treatment reminders and follow-up plans
- Patient forums to help empower and motivate patients and caregivers
- Auto-injectors to ease a patient’s injecting process, available upon a patient’s request
Results
As of late 2022, more than 1,000 policyholders in Thailand were screened for prostate cancer as a result of this PSP. By increasing awareness among stakeholders and removing financial barriers for screenings, a higher percentage of Thai patients received an earlier diagnosis. This in turn enabled patients to receive treatment earlier, helping to potentially improve their long-term prognosis.
