World Health Day, organised by the World Health Organisation, is held every year on 7th April. This year’s theme is “Health for All.”
Here at mdgroup, we’re advocates for equitable healthcare. From giving patients a voice with our podcast series, mdtalk, to facilitating clinical trials from patients’ own homes, our work centres around our mission: to put patients first in research and make clinical trials accessible to all.
This year, we’re marking World Health Day by showcasing some of the remarkable experiences and breakthroughs we’ve helped to facilitate in clinical trials worldwide.
The impact of decentralised and hybrid trials on health equity
We believe the future of clinical trials is hybrid.
For clinical research that truly puts the patient first, a one-size-fits-all approach is not enough. No two patients are the same, and that’s why we pioneer a patient-centric approach to trials.
Decentralised and hybrid trials mean even the most hard-to-reach patients can participate. In addition to solving location-related problems, a patient-centric approach can also accommodate people restricted by various limitations, from childcare to physical barriers such as mobility.
Our services are designed to take the trial to the patient, and the patient to the trial. From bespoke patient support, mobilehealth, and travel and expense management, our services exist to make clinical trials accessible to all. Our service ecosystem works holistically to create a remarkable patient experience at every part of the patient journey, including: recruitment, engagement, retention and trial outcomes.
Read more on how our patient-centric approach can reduce patient burden.
Innovations in mobilehealth with Seacole
seacolehealth, our sister company, places the best healthcare and research professionals into clinical studies.
This talent agency, run by nurses for nurses, enables healthcare professionals to experience flexible and well-paid opportunities in clinical research.
Stephanie Katz, Director of Seacole, has made it her mission to end burnout in healthcare and empower healthcare professionals to do the work they do best — putting patients first.
Listen to Stephanie’s recent interview with mdtalk on agency nursing and burnout.
We recently trained some of our seacole nurses in an innovative new technique that enables them to perform a traditionally lab-based process from patients’ own homes. Our staff are now trained and can train others to isolate peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients in their own surroundings. This innovation allows more patients, who typically wouldn’t have access due to mobility and location issues, to get the necessary treatment.
Read more about how seacole conducted PBMC isolation from patients’ own homes.
Providing crucial mental health support to young people in the UK and Northern Ireland
Through our initiative, mdeducational foundation, we make it possible for schools to introduce well-being leads for the benefit of their students.
In the UK and Ireland, it can be difficult for young people to access mental health support due to long waiting times and a lack of resources.
Thanks to our mdeducational foundation team, we support with the hiring of wellbeing professionals and the development of mental health strategies in higher educational establishments. Additionally, we have built wellbeing hubs that act as a safe haven whenever students need help or an opportunity to unwind.
Read about our foundation here.
Bridging the gaps in clinical trials with primarius patient
primarius patient is the mobile app that puts patients at the heart of clinical trials.
Our app makes patient participation more accessible and offers easy access to various elements of the clinical trial journey, from expense claims and reimbursements to travel and family support requests.
We believe in using technology as a tool that can provide healthcare access and education for all, which is why we continue to invest in MedTech as a crucial part of our service offering.
Find out more about primarius patient
Redefining the supply chain with Horreum
Horreum, our medical distribution centre, provides vital medical supplies to decentralised and hybrid trials worldwide.
Our express delivery service gets products to our Healthcare Providers overnight or with two or three-day delivery, depending on their location and needs, and mitigates supply chain issues that have become more common in a post-pandemic trial landscape.
Find out more about Horreum
Changing lives by creating remarkable long-term trial experiences
In 2019, we started working with a family whose child was diagnosed with Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency (LAD) syndrome. Since then, we have continued to support the family with follow-up visits.
The family, based in India, experienced geographical challenges and language barriers that could have prevented their daughter from being able to participate in this essential trial.
However, thanks to our long-term commitment to care and the crucial support she and her family gained through the clinical trial, the little girl is now four years old and thriving.
How we champion diversity and inclusion in healthcare
We are advocates for diversity in clinical trials. Ethically, we must remove disparity in healthcare, and scientifically, data is only complete if it includes everyone.
We work with partners who actively engage communities of colour, advising them on cities and regions to target to help increase diversity.
Our COO, LaQuinta Jernigan, was recently named one of the 100 most inspiring people in life sciences by PharmaVoice, thanks to her commitment to diversity and inclusion in healthcare.
Read more from LaQuinta on the topic of diversity in clinical trials
Our work in inclusive healthcare gives us purpose and makes us proud to be part of this vital industry.
In addition to making health equitable, we aim to reach as broad an audience as possible with this message. We encourage all health and life science professionals to speak with their teams and think about how they can make their services more accessible, equitable, and inclusive.
If you want to find out how we can help your team make healthcare accessible to all. Get in touch.
