February 2013 Archives

Do you remember the thrill you felt upon receiving your college acceptance letter?  This powerful 30-second spot can help you recall that emotion (watch video). There you go! Now you remember that intense feeling of joy as you saw the world opening up before you. I'm sure you agree that every young person deserves the chance to go to college. And earning a high school diploma is a necessary and critical step in the college process. But for too many students--especially students of color and low-income students--finishing high school is a nearly impossible feat.

There's a dropout crisis in America. It was brought to the national consciousness largely through the 2006 report by Civic Enterprises called The Silent Epidemic which was featured in a Time Magazine cover story called Dropout Nation. The report flagged that "Almost one third of all public high school students--and nearly one half of all blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans--fail to graduate from public high school with their class."

Since that defining moment, thousands of educators, policymakers, business leaders, young people and staff from community organizations have mobilized to turn this dropout crisis around. Hallmarks of this movement, now referred to as Grad Nation, include evidence-based reforms and interventions, common core standards, and better data (disaggregated adjusted cohort data). And just this week, the movement now has some promising results which were released during the Grad Nation Summit:

 "For the first time the nation is on track to meet the goal of a 90 percent high school graduation rate by the Class of 2020--if the pace of improvement from 2006 to 2010 is sustained over the next 10 years."

The high school graduation rate rose to just over 78 percent in 2010, which is remarkable and promising; but this still means that roughly one in four students in America dropout before finishing high school. And According to America's Promise, "that's one every 26 seconds or more than one million students a year." 

Watching the Academy Awards this week, and seeing the look of wonder and amazement in best actress winner Jennifer Lawrence's eyes, made me think about the million+ students each year who are slipping through America's cracks. Earning a high school diploma for them is like Jennifer Lawrence achieving an Oscar--overcoming incredible odds to attain this credential which immediately helps open up a brighter future.

GlaxoSmithKline has partnered with America's Promise--the convener of Grad Nation--for several years. We are proud to be a part of the solution for tackling our nation's dropout crisis. Indeed, the healthcare industry has a stake in building our next generation of researchers and healthcare leaders to continue to improve the health of our nation.  And while this incremental improvement in the graduation rate is heartening, we hope it will only strengthen our nation's collective resolve. Check out the new report here, and let me know what you think.

Wide shot of the "Conversation on Community Health" event with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper on February 6, 2013 in Denver.

What do bike paths, zip codes, and farmers markets, have to do with your own health? Everything, according to several participants in GSK's "Conversation on Community Health" in Denver held earlier this month.

Several GSK colleagues, including Deirdre Connelly, President of North America Pharmaceuticals, participated in the third of three conversations held in major and diverse US communities (Philadelphia and St. Louis) as part of a national initiative with The Atlantic to explore what it takes to be a healthy community.

I was really impressed with the people of Denver. Throughout the conversation, what came through again and again is that Denver is a forward-thinking, systems-oriented community that has a deep and sincere level of engagement and commitment to making health a reality for all.

I'm sure some of you reading this blog and not intimately familiar with Denver might wonder why a city known for its lean, healthy, and outdoorsy population would be selected as a stop on this three-city community health listening tour. Well, allow me to share with you some concerning data: despite being one of the leanest states in the nation, Colorado has an adult obesity rate that has doubled over the past 15 years--and--a childhood obesity rate that is rising faster than all but one other state. The health of residents varies depending on where they reside. Denver residents are seeing an improvement in the overall rates of heart disease, cancer, and violence; but obesity, mental illness, substance abuse, and tobacco use are on the rise. Bottom line: the Denver community was hungry for and ready to engage in a conversation on community health.

Throughout the event, a theme emerged: there is an inextricable link between individual health and larger community factors (economic, social, and environmental factors). These social determinants of health identified throughout the conversation ranged from the role of poverty and homelessness on health to the availability of bike trail and strong outdoor recreational infrastructure to fostering health. Indeed, several Denver leaders made the case that the community in which one is born, grows, lives, works, and ages plays the most significant role in an individual's health and wellness.

The insights we gathered through our community conversations, coupled with the insights from the soon-to-be-released national survey and the recent National Advisory Council meeting, will help inform what sort of role GSK might have in helping foster healthier communities. Please take a moment to share what you think are the barriers and opportunities for building healthier communities. Your contribution could help the future strategic direction of GSK's community partnerships and engagement in the US.

In 2012, 91 GSK employees spent up to six months with 51 non-profits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 26 countries in our PULSE program. These volunteers brought needed expertise to organizations working to address serious societal challenges in the health, education and the environment.

In this blog, PULSE volunteer Binita reflects on her experiences with Jhpiego in Ghana.

Since the launch of PULSE in 2009, nearly 300 GSK employees from 33 different countries have volunteered with 70 NGOs in 49 countries. PULSE was recently awarded the "Inspiring Practices" award by the International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE).

Yesterday I spoke to 300 of our industry colleagues about the work we're doing at GSK to help patients better engage in their healthcare.

My keynote address at the Pharmarket Research Conference gave me an opportunity to share a new approach we're taking to improve health outcomes by learning about the factors that cause people to either get involved in their healthcare or not.

It's a longstanding problem--all too often, patients don't follow their doctor's orders and don't get preventative screenings and tests as recommended; don't have medical procedures performed; don't follow through on physical therapy; and don't take medicines or receive vaccinations as prescribed--they simply aren't engaging in these self-management behaviors related to their health! 

As a result, patients don't get better or don't stay healthy. It frustrates their doctors and wastes money, as costs for doctor visits, diagnostics and tests aren't followed by prescribed treatments. Many times, down the road, even more costly or invasive care is needed.

The problem isn't new and, for many years, the pharmaceutical industry, like other participants in the healthcare system, has invested heavily to improve patient adherence to prescribed treatments only to achieve marginal and fleeting improvements. 

At GSK we've decided to take a new approach to this problem by applying the disciplines of behavioral science and market research to get at why people don't engage in their care and adhere to their doctor's orders. 

Our work is focused on using behavioral science to understand why patients don't engage in their healthcare and identifying ways to overcome those obstacles. To do that, we've developed a proprietary, evidenced based model called the Patient Value Framework.© It allows us to develop ways to better engage and communicate with patients. Our model has been validated in market research with patients with chronic diseases, such as COPD, diabetes, high triglycerides and metastatic disease and demonstrated effectiveness in improving engagement and, in testing, it predicted improvements in outcomes that is hospitalizations and adherence to medicines.

Our approach is showing promise. Ultimately we want to make sure we hear and understand what's motivating patients so we can improve their health and make the delivery of healthcare more effective.

How would you describe a healthy community?  Some disadvantaged children from the Bronx came together to discuss what a healthy community means to them. They dreamt of a healthy Bronx, and their conversations and concepts made it to canvas. That's it in the pic up there):  

This important painting was displayed at a new health center built by Children's Health Fund--a longstanding GlaxoSmithKline partner that provides health care to the nation's most medically underserved children, including children in the Bronx.

And while the children dreamt of a healthy Bronx, my GlaxoSmithKline colleagues and I have traveled to other cities throughout the country engaging in very similar conversations. We're asking community leaders: what are the barriers and opportunities for building healthier communities in the US?   We've had conversations in Philadelphia, PA (September 2012), St. Louis, MO (December 2012; my blog on evidence-based partnerships here), and this week in Denver, CO.  These conversations bring together hundreds of community stakeholders as we drill-down on ways we might work together to foster healthier communities in those cities.

The children's vision for their community was clear - safe places to play, healthy food to eat, and clean air to breathe. Their vision certainly made an impression on me and will be a part of my thinking going forward.

Speak up! How do you describe a healthy community? Comment here, or tweet it using #HealthyCommunity. And be sure to tune into the livestreamed event from Denver on February 6!