The situation
Schizophrenia has captured America’s cultural and clinical imagination for over 100 years. Yet despite no shortage of research or resources, patient outcomes have not measurably improved since the 1950s. The current standard of care in schizophrenia is a deficit-based model, where mental healthcare professionals often wait until patients become acutely sick before intervening and then prescribe an atypical antipsychotic that they hope will control symptoms. This reactive, wait-and-see approach has devastating long-term consequences for patients living with this chronic, progressive illness.
Thankfully, a new standard of care is emerging in the wake of landmark research from 2015 that proves the importance of early, comprehensive intervention. Unfortunately, the American mental healthcare system has been slow to adopt this new patient-centric treatment paradigm despite compelling evidence. These new data say by far the most effective care plans are ones that intervene early with comprehensive care: medicine administered in combination with evidence-based psychosocial interventions like talk therapy, family education, and supported education and employment. These care plans prioritize the needs of patients by addressing their overall health, not just their schizophrenia symptoms.
Determined to position itself as a progressive and patient-centric leader in schizophrenia, Teva wanted to help change the standard-of-care narrative.
The insight
In America, the median time to treatment for first-episode psychosis is 18 months. That’s 6 times longer than the World Health Organization recommends.
During their time without treatment, patients fall further and further from reality and deeper into their schizophrenia symptoms. This harrowing period of decompensation often does irreversible damage.
The objective of our film “Before They Fall” was to incite earlier and more comprehensive treatment by making psychiatrists feel what patients go through in the absence of care.
The solution
This film is the lead awareness asset for “SCZ Now,” an educational campaign for mental healthcare providers that examines how patient-centric care models are improving long-term outcomes in schizophrenia. Campaign content features contemporary perspectives from experts, patients, and caregivers at the forefront of this emerging standard of care.
To promote the launch of “SCZ Now” in a target-rich environment, “Before They Fall” is airing on psychcongress.com, a peer-to-peer website within the Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Learning Network that sees high traffic from our primary audience: practicing psychiatrists. The film and its message are relevant to these specific healthcare professionals because they are actively treating schizophrenia patients in care settings that include private practices, inpatient units, and community mental health clinics.
The results
The film just began airing in spring 2021, so results and metrics are forthcoming. But early, anecdotal responses from customers have been encouraging.