READY TO LAUNCH RESEARCH FOR NON-PROFITS

 

Our work in the non-profit sector

Since 2014, Ready to Launch Research has supported healthcare non-profits in the process of understanding patient experiences. By connecting with patients through empathy and regarding them as humans with nuanced lives and perspectives on their health, we garner insights that inspire patient centric design.

Many of our qualitative studies inform the development and production of health education materials and communication tools. Starting with the perspective that the patient journey is challenging and often overwhelming to those who are burdened by illness, our work aims to amplify the voices of patients in health education materials.

We have vast experience on program development and evaluation on a diverse set of topics for cancer nonprofit organizations at the national and international level. The following examples illustrate services provided and our recent contributions to program development in the healthcare nonprofit sector.

• Our community-based research methods explore educational gaps, and unmet psychosocial needs that are of importance to patients when communicating with healthcare teams. We conducted focus groups and interviews with patients diagnosed with ‘chronic’, incurable cancers like chronic myeloid leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma, breast cancer, and bone cancer. Patients gave feedback on education materials and support tools. Our methods helped explore educational needs and address top issues that are of importance to patients. These studies also informed on ways that health impact various areas of their life and offered ideas to share with other patients on how to cope with changes in quality of life related to cancer.

• Our strategies help develop and optimize educational materials that address treatment decision-making and patient/provider communication strategies. We facilitated sessions with a variety of patients to assist in the development and optimization of educational materials for cancer patients and caregivers. Virtual focus groups and phone interviews enable at-risk and physically ill patients to communicate their experience without the need to travel.

• We conduct various needs assessments to inform the development of educational materials for patients facing the latest in cancer treatments, like biosimilars, precision medicine, immunotherapy, and CART therapy. Our qualitative needs assessments were designed to identify the educational, support, and logistical needs of patients and caregivers at key milestones in the treatment experience.

• Our research informs the development of educational materials aimed at underserved populations that face unique challenges as a result of unmet needs. An example of this are long-term survivors of head and neck cancer, an under-served population of cancer survivors, that face unique challenges as a result of the cancer and its treatment. Findings from our research illustrated targeted areas of patient and caregiver unmet needs and provided the necessary information to create educational materials that address long-term eating challenges.

• Ready to Launch Research combines research methods such as in-person focus groups, interviews and online community bulletin boards to inform the development of education and navigation tools to help patients better understand and manage issues related to the cost of care. We combined a diversity of research methods to inform the development of cost of care calculators and personal finance tools. These tools were then tested to ensure that they help users estimate the potential costs for their care, choose a health insurance plan and facilitate an informed and open dialogue about comprehensive care costs with their health care team.

 

Our methods

The methods we use to gather data and information are centered on conducting qualitative research. In contrast to structured survey questions, our interviews methods are flexible, allowing us to follow up on emerging themes with additional questions.

Our research techniques consist of one-on-one interviews, in-person and virtual focus groups, and online discussion boards. These engagements are conducted by community research experts and steered by interview guides tailored to the needs of our clients at key milestones in the product development continuum.

 

Closing remarks

Market and community-based research are of fundamental importance to develop educational materials that are uniquely tailored to the specific challenges related to a cancer diagnosis. From the above contributions, our research methods and results have informed the development of comprehensive educational programs, including books, patient/provider discussion guides, and online tools, to help patients and caregivers understand all aspects related to a cancer diagnosis and address other issues related to living with a cancer diagnosis, like financial toxicity, long-term eating challenges and the psychosocial impacts of cancer.

To learn more about how Ready to Launch Research can assist you with market and community-based research needs, please contact us.

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