Unmet Training Needs For Patients Using Self-Injectable Drug Therapies Comes At A High Cost

A recent report published in Expert Opinion On Drug Delivery uncovered a startling paradigm regarding unmet training needs for patients who begin self-injectable therapies for chronic disease management.

The authors of the report, “The current paradigm for biologic initiation: a mixed-methods exploration of practices, unmet needs, and innovation opportunities in self-injection training,” conducted a study to examine the current injection initiation experiences of patients and uncovered significant gaps in training and support.

The ’report findings showed that while self-injection has become a mainstay of chronic disease management, current injection initiation experiences have proven to be suboptimal due to lack of training, citing five common themes: 1. Minimal biologic instruction provided to HCPs 2. Nuanced injection use-steps that are not universally understood 3. No stakeholder currently “owns” patient training 4. Support offered by HCPs and manufacturers is perceived as biased 5. Emotional burden is not accounted for.

The study went on to summarize that in order to facilitate successful initiations, several elements must be optimized, including structured sessions, improved HCP injection device knowledge, demo-device practice and focus on both the emotional and mechanical aspects of patient training and onboarding. The researchers concluded that addressing these factors has potential to increase patient confidence, reduce burden on HCPs, and improve probability of success on therapy.

While at-home self-injection can help make injecting more convenient for patients — because they do not have to go into their HCP’s office — the onus of treatment is left solely on them. Recent studies have shown that millions of patients around the world who rely heavily on self-injectable courses of therapy lack the knowledge and skills for proper self-injection.

Surprisingly, it has been reported that over 84% of patients are not able to correctly use autoinjectors and over half of those patients routinely miss three or more critical use steps when injecting. Consequently, gaps in patient training continue to be a barrier for uptake – resulting in costly negative patient outcomes, higher healthcare costs and an increase in outpatient visits.

Moreover, studies have shown that many patients view their self-injectable treatment burdens as unsustainable. Self-injection is a highly stressful task and improper technique may have implications for both clinical outcomes and patient adherence.

If patients are to become and stay adherent to their self-injection regimen, and realize all-important positive health outcomes, they must be given the tools to succeed.

Patient Training Is No Longer An Option – It’s Imperative

It has become clear that patient training is more imperative now than ever before, and the current paradigm must shift for the benefit of patients, HCPs, and manufacturers.

Noble develops and commercializes robust training solutions that help patients prescribed self-injectable courses of therapy become and stay adherent to their injectable.

Noble’s product and service solutions include training devices whereby patients can practice with a reusable and resettable ‘practice device’ that mimics the form and function of the self-injectable drug delivery device. This device that allows for practice is a vital patient tool; as it has been discovered that not only are patients often anxious when self-injecting, but they also often turn to the internet to research how to self-inject. Unfortunately, many of the online resources can cause even more confusion or apprehension in patients.

This patient practice is even more critical as studies show a staggering one-third of patients do not receive any in-office training on their self-injection device from their HCPs and even if they do, those training methods can vary widely. Furthermore, HCPs often lack the necessary skills to provide proper training to patients and so, when this training does occur, it is often very short and does not allow the patient time to practice or ask questions. This can lead to patient reluctance to express confusion, as well as fear of asking for additional support. Moreover, patient anxiety is often minimized, leading to apprehension about asking for additional support if self-injecting is deemed (or considered) by many HCPs and pharma companies to be “easy”.

Noble’s robust training and onboarding solutions — which can help improve the efficacy of self-administered biologics for patients — reduce negative transfer of knowledge or memory decay to properly utilize these treatments and increase patient adherence.

Noble Speaks Patient(R)

Noble combines its knowledge and understanding of the patient’s needs and anxieties around self-injecting along with design and engineering expertise to develop and commercialize training devices that mimic the feel, force and function of the actual drug delivery device in order to help increase patient confidence and adherence self-administering drug therapies. Noble also assists brands with training utilization, training device Instructions for Use (IFUs) and product launch strategy programs to support both the devices’ end users and to help brands optimize their performance. Noble works with pharma companies in the development of training videos to help patients learn how to properly self-administer their medication.

Sponsored content by Tim McLeroy