Longeveron Inc’s Post

Reporting late for duty - to thank Kenya Society of Haematology & Oncology (KESHO) for what was a very engaging, inspiring, thought provoking session. Our Speaker Panel had eloquent, seasoned experts in oncology. We spoke to a group close to 700 participants. I gave my perspective on community engagement. See below outline of emerging issues: 1️⃣ Healthcare versus Disease Care: The healthcare system in Kenya is skewed towards disease care. People seek hospitals when sickness & symptoms persist. It's an Africa wide problem, seen in late stage cancer diagnosis, poor patient outcomes, & a stretched system with expensive treatment options. Results? Dire funding gaps. 2️⃣ Funding Gaps: "Our observation is that the leading cause of death is actually "Pocketitis", or poverty. Many die before they start treatment due to very high cost of work-up. A simple biopsy and histology is a nightmare in the villages. What is the plan for cancer Funding in Kenya?" Participant X 😩 . This is a big issue which sadly results in many families/communities facing heartbreaking conditions - selling assets to meet care costs, yet many patients die, leaving poorer families, orphaned children, demoralized clinicians, bleeding economies. Some survive, we work with them in KILELE Health. 3️⃣ Loss to Follow Up: There are those who drop-off from the healthcare system, seeking alternative medicine, presenting again when little can be done to maintain dignity / good quality of life. We lack mechanisms to follow up & bring them back for prescribed treatment. Many are their reasons - challenges in meeting costs, poor understanding, fear of cancer, resignation to terminal illness, stigma.... Yet we know that patient navigation could help solve this. ------------------- So what do Civil Society Orgs. / Advocacy Groups have to do to improve patient outcomes? ------------------- We are active in communities, contributing significantly to shaping policies and enhancing cancer care through: ✅ Raising public awareness about importance of prevention, early detection & timely access to treatment. ✅ Advocating with governments for increased funding for cancer services. ✅ Negotiating with partners/stakeholders, pushing for comprehensive, equitable, sustainable cancer care programs. ✅ Engaging policymakers, providing evidence-based research to inform decision-making. ✅ Promoting patient-centered approaches including survivorship care. I have seen tremendous improvements in Kenya over the last 13yrs. More so now, professional bodies, governments & stakeholders are actively seeking patient advocacy voices in decision making. We remain optimistic things can only get better as we #closethecaregap!!! Your thoughts? #ACHA #CervicalHealth #DontDropTheBall #KileleChallenge Prevent Cancer Foundation, FIND, American Cancer Society, Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), Cancer Research UK (CRUK), Ministry of Health, Kenya, World Health Organization, Unitaid

cutting edge therapies. join us for evidence based debates. Entertaining sure, but a great learning experience for the new Resident, Fellow, or the experienced practitioner. #neuromodulation #interventionalradiology #interventionalpain #spine American Society of Pain and Neuroscience ASPN #pain #painrelief #spinalcordstimulation #pns #medicaldevices

Insightful discussion on obesity, Ozempic and how digital care models can help treat more with quality care and daily access to a full specialist team. #Yazen #YazenHealth #HealthTalkNO #ObesityTreatment #SustainableWeightLoss #HealthServiceApp #YazenApp #digitalcaremodel

At Stacy Hurt's invitation, I will be a patient panelist with her on 6/17 here in San Diego at the DIA annual meeting. We'll discuss how to develop more successful relationships between patients and Industry regarding trials. It's always been a hot topic for me having benefited from two trials but fearing too many patients miss out. Please join us at DIA if you can and say Hi. To my friends at ASCO, remember, with no effective dialogue with patients trials go nowhere and we all suffer in the end. #clinicaltrials #drugindustry DIA

Most powerful decision I have made on this #Founder journey was to be a member of BoneChat. It’s like having a team outside of the ALLUMIN8 team. As a small, emerging company, Bone Chat levels the playing field. We can chat with other founders near/far/new entrepreneurs/highly tenured executives before making an important and costly decision. We want each-other to succeed… even through our competitive natures. This is unheard of and was so incredibly needed. It’s filled with people who simply like helping people, and I will forever be grateful to those who helped our journey! Note: I am a paying member, and this was not requested or sponsored. It’s important to know groups like this exist considering it can be a very lonely, mistake-filled journey without a team. Tiger Buford Ted Bird Mark Maloney Lisa Voronkova Mauricio Toro Elizabeth Hofheinz, M.P.H., M.Ed. Colleen Gray Mark Copeland Jeff Kleiner Stu Brandon #ortho #spine #biologics #regenerative #medtech #ValueAnalysis #QMS

For those looking to learn more about the Lymphedema Treatment Act, consider listening in to this informational call

“From all of us at Curi, please accept our thanks and admiration for all that you do for your families, your communities, and your patients. We are proud and deeply honored that so many of you have partnered with us, and we resolve to remain at-the-ready when you need us the most.” In celebration of #NationalDoctorsDay, read more from our Dr. Damian McHugh MD, FACEP in his new blog post. https://hubs.li/Q02r8Jch0

Every week, I give Amanda Fringer a list of things she needs to accomplish and my intention is for her to accomplish these tasks over the several weeks that we’re discussing her project. However, each week she comes back with a massive rundown list of the taskings I’ve given her! She is completing some of these essential items in one week where it might take others several weeks to accomplish. At the beginning of this episode, I talk about the qualities and #attitudes it takes to be a Medication Access Coordinator (MAC) including: ✔️Highly motivated without being told exactly what to do ✔️Has the ability to multitask ✔️Has ZERO fear of asking questions even if they’re afraid they’re asking dumb questions ✔️Can navigate different and sometimes difficult personalities to get workflows accomplished ✔️Ability to identify when initial workflows aren’t working and can pivot quickly to modify workflows ✔️ #Empathy ✔️Being inquisitive ✔️ #grit ✔️ #determination ✔️ #perseverance ✔️Doesn’t take “no” for an answer (Probably most important!) Amanda Fringer possesses all of these qualities and more. When good processes and workflows are established, most #medicationaccess Coordinators love this fast paced job. More appreciation will be shown to her as she continues to meet and help more patients. When patients are contacted and offered assistance by someone at the hospital instead of trying to collect from them, it’s essentially like winning the #lottery to them. Some of them even want to know “what the catch is”. I think that speaks volumes about our current healthcare system where so many patients fall through the cracks and are left behind. I’m excited to tackle #medicalbenefit manufacturer copay assistance with Amanda. This process is such a convoluted mess that yes, a full hour will be dedicated to it! See you next week! National Association of Medication Access & Patient Advocacy (NAMAPA)

Dr. Schaller and the MAC Alliance team are committed to helping his patients return to living their best lives. #TestimonialTuesday #concussionspecialists, #TBI #braininjuries #traumaticbraininjuries #concussionawareness #concussiondiagnosis #TestimonialTuesday

Corporate Social Responsibility takes many forms. Here's an opportunity to make a genuine and lasting difference to the lives of children and young people...