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Lilly RESPONSE Nurse Forum: Tailored Education for Rheumatology Nurses

by Makara Health for Lilly

Summary of work

Rheumatology nurses are at the forefront of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patient management. Often at the centre of multi-disciplinary teams, nurses run busy services and manage numerous patients on complex therapies. Opportunities for focused, nurse-specific training are limited.
The RESPONSE Nurse Forum, a promotional meeting developed, organised and funded by Eli Lilly, was launched in 2017 to meet these needs.
Building on the success of previous Forums, Lilly’s strategy for 2019 was to deliver quality learning that would be of practical clinical value – developed by nurses, for nurses – whilst providing opportunities for participants to forge connections with peers.
Lilly formed a small Steering Committee of rheumatology nurses to shape content to ensure relevance for the audience. Additionally, delegate feedback from the previous two Forums informed the agenda.
A key focus was placed on engaging formats, including opportunities to vote and ask questions using an app; lively debates; a series of interactive workshops – including a learning tool to aid decision making; and an after-dinner educational talk around the ‘Science of laughter’ and its value in conversations with patients.
Feedback around the education, quality and relevance of the content was overwhelmingly positive with 100% of attendees rating the Forum “Excellent” or “Very Good”.

To date, the program has successfully generated and leveraged data through newly established channels and partnerships with engaged stakeholders. The program has already successfully influenced clinical practice and policy at global, country and clinic levels via novel insights and targeted, patient-focused solutions. Adherence is gaining the attention it has long needed, and real-world outcomes will improve as a result.

Judges’ comments

The Lilly RESPONSE Nurse Forum entry was particularly strong. Its success was reinforced by the fact that attendees asked for the material to run local education sessions to share what learnings with more of their colleagues locally. The programme was practical and diverse, which probably led to such high relevance metrics. A creative, strongly presented and a well-executed event.