Finalist
Talking PF, Mini Talks and Live Q&As About Lungs, Life and Keeping Strong
with support from 11 London (supported by AVT)
Summary of work
Talking PF was a series of webinars run during the spring of 2021 with the goal of delivering unique patient support tailored to the lockdown needs of the Pulmonary Fibrosis (PF) community. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Britain in 2020, PF patients were classified as high risk and were advised to shield at home. At the same time, all face-to-face support groups for these vulnerable people were cancelled, and many lung physicians and nurse specialists were redeployed, meaning that PF patients could not access their usual medical care. As a result there were 108,000 fewer respiratory appointments in 2020 and patients were left feeling more isolated than ever. Talking PF aimed to bridge some of these support gaps by providing educational and practical information from clinical experts, patients and carers. Marketing for the events was carried out through emails, social media, newsletters, website announcement, and word of mouth. More than 100 people attended each of the webinars and on average 37 questions were raised by the audience per webinar. On average 78.9% of people agreed that the Talking PF webinars had provided them with a sense of hope for the future. (Ref: https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2021-07-06/pandemic-leaves-lincolnshire-lung-patient-waiting-more-than-a-year-for-treatment)
Judges’ comments
This entry from Boehringer Ingelheim, 11 London and AVT was joyous! It had great insight with a collaborative live approach. The information provided gave people hope, which was backed-up by the follow-up and strong feedback.
