Building Mutually Beneficial Partnerships
Patient advocacy and professional groups are instrumental in helping patients gain access to better information, education and services for their health. Innovative companies recognize the value of strategic collaborations with advocates, which offer mutual benefits.
As the leader in activating patient advocates, JPA Health can help you understand the rapidly changing landscape, and work within regulations to create meaningful alliances.
Using our proven method for nurturing and enhancing relationships, JPA works with clients to gather intelligence and identify opportunities for engagement with the right advocacy organizations. Where relationships already exist, JPA can help develop collaborative partnerships with meaningful outputs that support patients.
Our core advocacy services include:
• Landscape and Policy Audits
• Corporate Benchmarking
• Advocacy and Stakeholder Mappings
• Market Access Strategies
• Patient Support Services
• Clinical Trial and Registry Recruitment
• Grant Development Support
• Patient Panels, Roundtables and Ad Board
• Public Hearing Support at FDA Advisory Committee Meetings
• Externally Led Patient-Focused Drug Development Meetings
• Coalition Building
• Patient Education and Awareness Programs
• Conversation Analysis and Audit
Long before the 2012 Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) mandated patient involvement in drug reviews, JPA Health was already leading the way in patient advocacy. We have consistently played a pivotal role in weaving patient perspectives into our clients’ drug development journeys. Our pride in this work is matched only by its enduring positive impact on patient care.
Our Clients
- LUNGevity Foundation
- Epizyme
- Autistica
- Be The Match
Our Expertise
Advocacy & Public Affairs
Marketing & Advertising
Medical Communications
Public Relations
Health Tech & Services
Public Health
Life Sciences
Federal Government
Featured Insights
No One Missed: How JPA Health Made Biomarker Testing in Lung Cancer the Norm
The multi-year No One Missed campaign drove broad awareness of the importance of comprehensive biomarker testing in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
The Impact
50M total
impressions,
double
the launch goal
>1,000
national and
local media
hits
700K
potential
audience
reached
The Challenge
More than 235,000 Americans are diagnosed with lung cancer each year, but only a fraction of those received comprehensive biomarker testing to help them receive the best possible treatment. This disparity is especially marked among seniors, African Americans, Hispanic Americans and people with lower socioeconomic status.
Our Approach
With LUNGevity Foundation and dozens of industry and non-profit partners, JPA Health created the No One Missed campaign to enhance public awareness of comprehensive biomarker testing so that lung cancer patients knew to ask about testing at diagnosis, when critical treatment decisions are made. Seniors, African Americans, Hispanic Americans and people with lower socioeconomic status were given special attention to ensure the No One Missed campaign lived up to its name. A health literacy partner helped ensure core materials were readable and accessible to diverse audiences.
The Solution
JPA facilitated a strategic planning session with key advocacy leaders to steer the campaign’s core strategic objectives, messaging, tactics and timeline. In its first year, the campaign successfully collaborated with more than 30 partners across the pharma industry, patient advocacy groups and professional societies. In its second year, we focused on increasing inclusion of underserved populations by launching a public service announcement aimed at reaching these audiences in the U.S. and sought to build partnerships across Europe to increase reach. The campaign has continued to evolve with the unmet need, driving results to create lasting change.
Related Work
ESsentials: How JPA Health Helped Empower People with a Rare Cancer
JPA Health partnered with Epizyme to launch the first educational initiative for patients and caregivers affected by the ultra-rare cancer epithelioid sarcoma (ES).
The Impact
Reached
1,950+
ES patients
96%
increase
over goal
60+
content
downloads
The Challenge
Like many rare diseases, ES is under-researched and under-resourced. There were no FDA approved drugs for ES, and a tremendous need for education and support for people living with this serious condition.
Our Approach
To uncover addressable knowledge gaps, JPA Health conducted in-depth patient journey research and conducted 1:1 interviews with patient advocacy leaders. We discovered that while ES information existed online, it was fragmented and difficult to find – patients did not know where to begin to look. We set out to bring disparate information together in the first-ever ES disease education campaign to effectively support these patients.
The Solution
JPA Health launched ESsentials, the first website dedicated to ES patients and caregivers, timed with the start of Sarcoma Awareness Month when ES was in greater focus than other times of the year. We created and strategically promoted a best-of-the-web hub for patients to begin their journey understanding the disease, providing crucial questions to ask in the doctor’s office and survivor stories to keep them motivated. Original content included powerful video testimonials, doctor discussion guides, easy-to-understand information on the disease, and links to additional resources, all of which received positive reviews from patients and caregivers.
Related Work
Embracing Complexity: How JPA Health Drove Action in Autism Research
JPA Health partnered with Autistica, the UK’s leading autism research charity, to unveil “Embracing Complexity,” a dynamic coalition committed to increasing awareness about the unique challenges faced by people living with Neurodevelopmental Conditions (NDCs).
The Impact
Successfully
launched in
the House of Commons
New
cross
-departmental
government
body for NDCs
50+
charities
joined
the coalition
The Challenge
Autistica observed that a growing number of people with NDCs rarely had only one condition. Charities and other actors needed to come together to provide integrated support, where people living with NDCs were diagnosed earlier, better supported, and their talents could be fully leveraged in society.
Our Approach
JPA Health and Autistica launched the coalition in UK Parliament and created a campaign for the Embracing Complexity Coalition to raise awareness about the challenges faced by individuals with NDCs, emphasizing the need for collaboration among industry, government, and the public sector.
The Solution
JPA Health created #IEMBRACECOMPLEXITY for the coalition to raise awareness of people living with challenges of NDCs. The Embracing Complexity Coalition was formally launched in the House of Commons, where JPA Health secured the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care as a speaker, who announced a new governmental across-departmental unit to focus on people with NDCs, a key call to action of the coalition and their report.
The coalition has now grown to 50+ charities and has had a seat at the table re-designing the government’s autism strategy and neurodiversity services.
Related Work
Be The Match: How JPA Health Elevated Awareness of Donor Stories on National Television
In partnership with Be The Match, a leader in bone marrow transplantation, JPA told the stories of multiple patients and donors through a wide array of local and national media platforms, all synchronized with Good Morning America’s special coverage commemorating the 10th anniversary of Robin Roberts’ transplant.
The Impact
8,000+
potential donors
registered with
Be The Match
2,100+
broadcast
airings
36
million
impressions
The Challenge
For patients diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases, a bone marrow or cord blood transplant may be their best or only hope for a cure. Yet 70% of patients who need a transplant do not have a fully matched donor in their family.
Our Approach
As part of our support for Good Morning America’s “One Match, Second Chance” campaign, JPA Health and Be the Match worked together to educate consumers about the importance of registering to be a bone marrow donor.
The Solution
In just two weeks, JPA Health worked with multiple reporters, producers, and patients/donors to align on unique stories for each market in time for the Good Morning America event.
In addition to quickly securing nationwide coverage, JPA Health also helped arrange a donor drive in Los Angeles to generate media coverage, which resulted in a series of multiple live stories on top-ranked KABC-TV (ABC affiliate in Los Angeles).
Related Work
This year the JPA Health team had the opportunity to plan, produce, film, edit and distribute a national public service announcement (PSA) that aims to educate people about the importance of comprehensive biomarker testing during a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) diagnosis and subsequent treatment in support of LUNGevity Foundation. The PSA launched in November as a part of LUNGevity’s No One Missed campaign and tells the story of two people directly impacted by non-small cell lung cancer and comprehensive biomarker testing. This blog posts shares multimedia manager Michael Zhao’s experience meeting and filming their stories.
Key Takeaway
– Personal connections resonate
– Biomarker testing key in lung cancer
– Advocacy through personal storytelling
Related Case Studies
Getting to Know Your Talent
When you sit down with the talent behind your camera for a meal, you really get to know each other. You start talking about the “little” things in life—that’s when you know you are making friends. This is what we did this past summer while we were out on video shoots featuring Juanita and Jaymie—two people living with lung cancer.
Juanita from Indiana, and Jaymie from Georgia, are the stars in a PSA series highlighting their experience living with non-small cell lung cancer and with receiving comprehensive biomarker testing. Comprehensive biomarker testing can help identify mutations in a patient’s unique lung cancer and may help determine an appropriate treatment for that patient, including targeted therapies.
I was pumped to be a part of the JPA team supporting LUNGevity, working tirelessly for a few months to ensure that millions of homes in the U.S. have access to this essential information.
Meet Juanita Segura
Juanita Segura was diagnosed in November of 2014 and has been living with NSCLC for eight years.
Juanita got emotional on camera remembering the formidable challenge of how to best tell her children about her diagnosis. “[I wanted] to give them hope that Mom is going to be around to see them grow up—I promised them that.” I was sitting behind the cameras and crew, watching Juanita tear up as she spoke about the difficulties of her lung cancer diagnosis. I couldn’t help but relate to her as a parent. She is not a smoker, and neither am I, but her message is important: if you have lungs, you are at risk of getting lung cancer. I could not imagine how I would feel if I had to break that kind of news to my children, with looming terror that I might not see them grow up.
Juanita and her husband Steve were both shocked and devastated about Juanita’s diagnosis. Lung cancer brought a lot of anxiety and fear into their family. But her treatment journey wasn’t a straight line. When Steve found out about comprehensive biomarker testing through online research, they knew it would be a major step for Juanita’s treatment. Comprehensive biomarker testing found Juanita’s cancer tested positive for the ALK mutation, which can be treated with a targeted therapy.
Juanita says receiving this testing and finding the right treatment for her unique cancer has helped put her life back on track. Now with a dog and a couple of cats in the house, their home is as busy as ever. The cutest of all is their granddaughter, who is an absolute charm in front of cameras. Better yet, they are expecting another grandchild.
Meet Jaymie Bowles
The other star of the PSA is Jaymie Bowles, who was diagnosed with NSCLC in 2018. She was fearful about how uprooted her life might become after the diagnosis. As Jaymie sat with the news, she began to slowly open up to family and friends about her experience. She recognizes the profound impact that cancer treatment has on her life.
Unlike Juanita, Jaymie’s oncologist performed biomarker testing immediately after she was diagnosed, which found her cancer tested positive for the ALK mutation and can be treated with a targeted therapy. Now, Jaymie has been living with lung cancer for four years, she and her husband Frank, who is in the military, reside in Savannah, Georgia with their cat and dog. In her free time Jaymie loves to be with her family, play pool and participate in group fitness classes.
Advocating for Biomarker Testing
Jaymie and Juanita both took on new roles as advocates for comprehensive biomarker testing. They know that not everyone who is diagnosed with NSCLC knows about biomarker testing and want to emphasize it as a pivotal moment in their treatment journeys.
“Without biomarker testing, I wouldn’t be here talking to you today,” Juanita emphasizes. Juanita has been to Washington, D.C., to help organizations lobby for funding for lung cancer and takes every opportunity to educate newly diagnosed lung cancer patients about the importance of comprehensive biomarker testing. Jaymie is also a vocal advocate for the lung cancer community, often participating in live walks and events.
Now, Jaymie and Juanita are the stars of our PSA—and their stories have the potential to help millions of other people diagnosed with lung cancer. Thanks to comprehensive biomarker testing, NSCLC patients are being matched to the most appropriate treatment for their type of lung cancer. And thanks to Juanita and Jaymie, other people living with lung cancer will know about this important testing and the impact it can have on treatment decisions.