Patient Advocacy Helps Shape Clinical Trial Approvals, Policy Decisions: Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, MPH

In addition to patient-physician collaboration, Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, MPH, highlights the importance of patient advocacy, whether in the clinical trial approval process or public policy. In this interview clip, she emphasizes that advocacy helps elected officials understand how policies affect patients in their district.

Watch parts 1 and 2 to see why patient perspectives and collaboration with physicians are essential in clinical research.

This transcript was lightly edited for clarity; captions were auto-generated.

Transcript

What infrastructure or cultural changes are needed to fully integrate patient voices into clinical decision-making?

Well, I think that there are structured mechanisms to bring patients and patient advocates into the clinical trial infrastructure. We've evolved in really progressive ways, in ways that have been incredibly meaningful. I think that has evolved, but what we do need is more patients to be advocates.

There are training programs available, some of them through the Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation here at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, but there are many different training programs where patients can learn to be advocates. We're going to talk about that in today's plenary session, which I think is really important and really a tribute to advocates like Dale Eastman, who this lecture is in memory of, who was an advocate that really fostered this kind of collaboration.

But I would say, more broadly, that the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium has always done a great job of being a facilitator of collaboration, whether it's bringing translational science into the clinics, connecting advocates to clinicians, or industry partners in the health care ecosystem. Bringing people together is the power of this meeting and is an incredibly important way that we move further together.

Where do you see the greatest opportunities for further patient involvement?

I think that we need to get more patients involved in advocacy, whether it's in the clinical trial approval process or in public policy change. I can tell you, I spend a lot of time talking to our elected officials. No elected official ever wants cancer patients to do badly, but if they don't hear from patients about some of the natural consequences of very well-intended policies that they want to put forward, they may not recognize how it might impact patients and patients in their district.

There's great power in clinicians advocating with patients to advocate for public policy changes, and whether that impacts things like grant funding, the process of drug approvals, or access to care, those are all really meaningful outcomes to make sure that these wonderful therapeutic interventions get to the patients we serve.