GCI Health And The Mighty Team Up To Shed Light On People Centricity™, New Approaches To Patient Engagement

NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- GCI Health, a leading healthcare communications agency, today announced the launch of a new methodology, People Centricity™, which merges the business-based principles of customer centricity and the value-based tenets of patient centricity to help companies engage people in unprecedented ways. People Centricity is an evolution of the agency's signature platform, Patients at the Center, which has been helping clients and employees to better focus their thinking on patient-centricity and lead patients-first strategies for the last six years.

As part of this new approach, GCI Health and The Mighty, an innovative health platform with an engaged community of patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals, are partnering to share both companies' collective experience. Specifically, they are analyzing findings from The Mighty's recent community survey to better understand how the needs of people seeking health information are changing and, correspondingly, how communications strategies need to change to meet the needs of today's patients and their caregivers. GCI Health and The Mighty are showcasing their collaboration, as well as sharing key data and discussing how these findings can inform future engagement, at the eyeforpharma Patient Summit USA (October 2-3, Philadelphia). The eyeforpharma Patient Summit brings together like-minded, patient-focused professionals to discuss the latest in digital engagement, culture change and partnerships.

"What patients want today is to be seen as people, beyond simply their condition, with information designed by them, for them with direct person-to-person engagement, credible information and experienced voices – that's what resonates today," said Wendy Lund, CEO, GCI Health. "Our partnership with The Mighty dovetails perfectly with Patient Centricity™ and our efforts to better understand the patient and caregiver mindsets and develop effective strategies that help our clients break through with their stories in an authentic way."

Community Survey Reveals People Want Information for Them, by Them
From February through April 2019, The Mighty conducted its 2019 Community Survey, a proprietary study of more than 2,000 of its community, many of whom are living with or caring for someone with a disease or chronic health condition; one in three of The Mighty's community are doing double duty, acting as both patient and caregiver.¹ 

The survey revealed that caregiving is physically and emotionally demanding, with caregivers stating they spend nearly twice as much time thinking about caregiving versus actually doing it (67% vs. 35%).¹ This places a heavy burden on people, especially given that 60% of respondents are living with four or more health conditions and 40% feel their health has worsened over the past year.¹ Interestingly, when asked, what helps patients feel better about their condition best, 95% of respondents said online therapy/support; friends and family ranked next at 42% and 41%, respectively.¹

"As a leading patient experience platform, we believe these survey findings have broad application and point to the critical importance of credible health content and peer-to-peer connection," said Todd Kirby, Vice President, Insights, The Mighty LENS, the research, data and insight arm of The Mighty. "What we find interesting is that the circle of trust is changing. While primary care physicians were rated highest for trusted information, our community rated The Mighty at number two. We know healthcare organizations are trying to be patient centric, but for many, it's not resonating." 

The Mighty's community ranked the pharmaceutical industry last in regards to trust, which mirrors a recent study from Gallup that showed pharma as the most poorly regarded industry in the U.S.²

About The Mighty's Community Survey
The Mighty's Community Survey collected responses from 2,066 adults residing in the United States. Respondents familiar with The Mighty – members and non-members alike – were reached via cross-platform marketing, social media and e-newsletters. The survey was fielded from late February through early April 2019.

About GCI Health
GCI Health is a full-service, integrated communications agency inspired by the everchanging healthcare landscape. The agency has been named 2019 North American Healthcare Agency of the Year and Best Place to Work For in the U.S. and U.K. GCI Health is WPP's only healthcare dedicated PR and communications firm. The agency offers clients an accessible senior-level leadership team, a commitment to beating client expectations and an obsession with anticipating the challenges of an increasingly complex and transforming healthcare communications environment. With a deep focus on multichannel marketing, including media relations and digital communications, storytelling, consumer and patient engagement and activations, scientific communications, access and pricing, corporate communications, CSR, global health, issues and crisis management, patient advocacy and health education, GCI Health's passion and ability to deliver results is unrivaled. For more information, please visit www.gcihealth.com.

About The Mighty: The Human Side of Health   
The Mighty is a safe place where patients and caregivers can talk to those who share similar experiences, as well as professionals offering their expertise. It's a place where people are met with patience and compassion; a place where their voice is heard and respected. We help people take control of their health so they can lead the life they've always envisioned for themselves and the people around them.

The Mighty has a 2.8 million strong registered community who give and receive around the clock support in over 70 languages.

Contacts:

GCI Health
Janine Colavita
(732) 861-3806
[email protected]

The Mighty
Todd Kirby
(773) 368-1484
[email protected]

¹ The Mighty 2019 Community Survey.

² Justin McCarthy: Big Pharma Sinks to the Bottom of U.S. Industry Rankings. Gallup Poll. September 3, 2019.

SOURCE GCI Health