Digital Marketing Manager, Nick Lester, reflects on the team’s work supporting recent charity initiatives and sustainability efforts, going beyond corporate metrics to understand the real human and environmental impact of A Life in a Day’s work.
Currently, as I write this, I am in the small office room of my house in the UK, with the tower fan running on one of the hottest days of the year and sweltering along with much of the northern hemisphere. While I am, as far as I have experienced, simply uncomfortable, it reminds me of a post I recently read whilst scrolling about how someone with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) could not even head outside in most weather situations, as it physically worsened her condition.
It also reminded me of a situation recently where I was at the UK music festival Download, and the band Metallica were headlining. My friend, who lives with MS, had to leave one song into their set to head back to our camping area. Any initial frustration that came from missing the music disappeared instantly when the reality of how my friend was struggling became so quickly apparent.
A Life in a Day is built to bring the patient experience to life, and many of us have similar personal experiences of caring for or, in many instances, living with the condition they work alongside.
We believe that to truly improve patient outcomes, pharma and healthcare professionals need more than clinical data and need to experience the diagnosis. And our immersive experiences do this by bridging that gap to help teams shift their perspective from the condition to the person living with it.
That is why, when asked to talk about some of the recent fantastic work we have done for charities and support groups, I did not want to write a generic corporate social responsibility (CSR) post but instead, wanted to show our commitment goes beyond our professional solutions – it is part of who we are.
Charity Walk: One step at a time
Starting with one of our most recent events, we came together as a team and undertook a charity walk in support of Alzheimer’s awareness in May this year. Taking to the streets of London, we raised funds for a condition that has touched so many lives both directly and indirectly.
It was not about distance or speed, but connection. By participating we were not only raising funds but also standing in solidarity of support of the many people who have been touched by the impact of Alzheimer’s. We wrote a blog about it recently and why it is so close to us: See more here.
Charity Donations: An Ongoing impact
Whilst events like the sponsored walk are great for collective action, our commitment to supporting patient communities continues year on year. Through donations to charities and support groups we work with, we aim to provide meaningful, ongoing support in addition to the awareness raised through our immersive experiences.
To align with our sponsored walk, this year our chosen charity is Alzheimer’s Society and, in addition to a donation, we doubled the money raised from those who took part in the sponsored walk. This also gave us the space to reflect and share our own stories. More details can be found in our blog: One Step at a Time: Walking for Alzheimer’s Through London.
Partnerships and Patient Advocacy Groups
Charities and patient support groups are a core part of what help us build our immersive experiences that drive change. By partnering with these organisations, we are able to weave in their expertise alongside our own patient community. Bringing in this new perspective allows us to support a more holistic understanding of the conditions we build our experiences around, and ensures our programmes raise awareness of the wider impact of the condition on people’s lives.
We hold podcasts and webinars with advocacy groups and charities and look to continue doing so. Be sure to connect with us to discover the next one!
Sustainability: Caring for future generations
Going beyond people, our empathy extends to the world around us. That is why sustainability is a massive driver in all we do.
We work to ensure the impact of our kits (which are also reused, and recylable!) used to bring the experience to life, and the impact of our app are balanced by contributions to environmental restoration. For every kit shipped, we contribute to the planting of seagrass, which has a massive contribution in the capturing of carbon, water quality and ecosystems they are planted within.
There is a clear correlation between environmental and human health so every piece planted is one step towards improvements for those that need it.
What this means
What this means for myself and the team at A Life in a Day is that everything comes back to people.
Whilst we consistently prove our immersive patient experiences have commercial and clinical benefits within pharma and healthcare, being able to drive better outcomes for everyone is truly what keeps us going.
Because these are not just the stories we tell, they are the stories we all live.
And that is what matters.
