THE FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE
Endo Pharmaceuticals and GSW
Sam Cannizzaro, Executive Creative Director, GSW
sam.cannizzaro@syneoshealth.com
We often take our hands for granted until ordinary activities become difficult or impossible to perform. That’s the case for many patients with Dupuytren’s contracture (DC), a progressive condition that causes one or more fingers to contract toward the palm.
Of those diagnosed with DC, only 31% of patients receive treatment. The reasons for this are complex, and patients themselves often choose to put off treatment. However, it’s frequently healthcare professionals who choose to delay treatment because, in their minds, the condition has not progressed far enough to warrant surgical intervention. This approach tends to steer patients away from treatment entirely, including nonsurgical treatment options that can be utilized much earlier in the condition’s progression.
That’s why Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., the makers of XIAFLEX®, partnered with GSW to help physicians understand how greatly a patient’s life can be impacted by delaying treatment for DC. “THE FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE” was designed to help doctors understand what living with DC feels like for their patients and the daily compromises they are forced to make.
GSW helped manufacture a glove that anyone can wear, but once on, the glove simulates a finger contracture that a DC patient would experience. At the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) conference this past September, the nation’s top hand surgeons were challenged to wear the glove. Once in the shoes—or gloves—of their patients, they quickly realized how difficult it was to perform common tasks.
By helping these doctors experience DC as their patients do, Endo specialty sales professionals were able to make a case for XIAFLEX® that didn’t rely solely on clinical data but also hinged on the human element—one borne of personal experience rather than professional bias.
