Skip to: Clinical Trial Participation, Preventing Disease in Minority Communities, National Urban League, F.A.C.E. Patient Education, LaRaza, Health Care Literacy, Patient Assistance Programs, Lilly for Better Health
Beyond our own workplace, understanding the impact of diversity contributes to our efforts to improve patient care and outcomes--our ultimate goal. This understanding is the foundation of Lilly’s tailored therapy strategy to deliver patients the right medicine, at the right dose, at the right time. This strategy provides more predictable, personalized patient outcomes. Put simply, we must know our patients.
Because patients’ responses to medicines can vary by their ethnicity, clinical trial participants need to more closely represent the diversity of people who may later use the medicine that is being developed. In the U.S., clinical trials typically have not been as diverse as the overall population. Lilly is working to increase minority representation in clinical trials.
Clinical Trial Participation
We have defined goals across our therapeutic and product lines to achieve greater diversity among patients enrolling in new clinical trials, and we’re designing trials for specific populations to help bridge identified gaps. In addition, we are mining data from completed studies to analyze the varied effects our medicines may have on different patient populations. We are also tailoring our medical education materials to reflect the varying needs of distinct patient groups. And we’re conducting discussions with external multicultural advisory boards to gather more diverse input for our decision-making.
Preventing Disease in Minority Communities
In the U.S., minority groups often suffer heightened incidence rates of certain diseases, including diabetes, which we specialize in treating. We have established partnerships with leading minority organizations to provide prevention-related solutions and interventions through local grassroots and national outreach. With the support of national advocates, we are able to positively impact minority populations and improve awareness of chronic diseases in traditionally underserved communities.
National Urban League
For example, in 2006, the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation and the National Urban League (NUL) launched a multiyear “Health and Wellness” education initiative, designed to address health disparities and chronic disease prevention with a focus on diabetes and chronic disease. The program’s goal is to encourage healthy behaviors in African-Americans and other people of color through community partnerships, outreach, conferences, workshops, and curriculum design/evaluation. The program offers local engagement of targeted Urban League affiliates, through a model program or “best practices” approach toward delivery of health education/information to urban communities.
F.A.C.E. Patient Education
The Fearless African-Americans Connected and Empowered (F.A.C.E.) Diabetes Campaign is a grassroots movement targeting African-Americans to help individuals, families and neighborhoods overcome key barriers to success in living with diabetes. African-Americans are disproportionately affected by diabetes; according to the American Diabetes Association, African-Americans in the United States are 1.8 times more likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic whites, and 25 percent of African-Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 have the disease. Supported by Eli Lilly and Company, Glory Foods, national advocacy groups, and local community organizations, the F.A.C.E. Diabetes campaign will implement a series of practical and sustainable programs, which will help foster behavioral and attitudinal changes in areas critical to success in managing diabetes such as nutrition/cooking, physical activity, health and overall well-being.
National Council of LaRaza
In addition, the Lilly Foundation provided funding to the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) for a “Promotores de Salud” (lay health workers) program—“De Blanco y Negro a Colores: Entendiendo la Depresión” (“From Black and White to Color: Understanding Depression”). The outreach, which promotes mental health awareness in Latino communities, is focused on public awareness and support for depression. Aspects include improving the understanding of depression and advocating for treatment through linguistically appropriate and culturally relevant messages, and training of 50 health workers and staff from three community-based organizations in El Paso, Texas; Hayward, California; and Miami, Florida. Their community work serves as a catalyst for advocacy and health education efforts, and the development of health care policies that improve mental health treatment and services among Latinos.
Health Care Literacy
In 2007, we awarded $480,000 to the Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication (ICIC) for a literacy project aimed at improving health maintenance and disease management among limited English speakers. ICIC researchers will study how diabetes patients acquire health care information and interpret medication labels and patient information leaflets. The long-term goal of the three-year project is to develop effective training and communication tools that will allow those with limited English proficiency to better access medical information and treatment. ICIC, based in the Department of English at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, is an internationally recognized leader in linguistic research. The Lilly grant allows the research team to extend its work to health communications.
Patient Assistance Programs
Access to health care – and affordable medicines – is a major problem in many countries and Lilly has taken steps to assist. Lilly has helped patients obtain medicines through six different patient assistance programs. Learn More
Lilly for Better Health
We understand the health challenges patients and their families face. And while we can’t solve every one of them, we do our part to help patients improve their health through a variety of different ways. Learn more at www.lillyforbetterhealth.com.
