PCV18 Use of Human-Centred Design Thinking to Reimagine Access to Innovative Medicines in Africa for Patients, Undetected for Heart Failure, WHO Have NO Access to Healthcare and Diagnostics - an Experimental Case Study

Abstract

To explore the use of a human-centred approach to co-create patient access solutions to innovative heart failure (HF) medicines in Africa. We targeted patients undetected for HF who currently have no access to healthcare and diagnostics. We used a Design Thinking framework collaborating with a multidisciplinary cross-country team from Nigeria and South Africa and developed patient ecosystem maps to identify key stakeholders (e.g., community workers) for interviews to reveal access hurdles for these patients. A targeted literature review, accompanied with insights from Energy sector, inspired an outside-in perspective to the solution-finding process. We applied creative techniques and visual thinking to ideate and prototype solution concepts, addressing hurdles to access for the target patient population. We obtained the initial feedback from internal disease and access experts. Key hurdles for these patients were “low access to healthcare infrastructure” and “lack of disease awareness”. We identified government officials and community nurses as key stakeholders in the access path of HF patients. Lack of robust data supporting evidence-based decision-making, disease awareness, disease management systems and allocation of funds due to low priority of cardiovascular diseases for governments, are perceived as main challenges. Prototypes of solution concepts co-created by the African team consider (1) community-based multi-stakeholder HF management networks, (2) partnerships with professional associations for systematic real-world evidence generation using local diagnostics, mobile clinics and digital infrastructure to ultimately reach patients with no access to healthcare and (3) engage policy makers with data to enable policy change to improve the management of HF patients. A human-centred collaborative approach focusing on patient ecosystem can foster new ideas to solve complex and persistent healthcare problems. We can facilitate win-win situations to benefit inaccessible patients with HF by understanding their needs and deep diving into the pains and gains of key decision-makers and influencers.