Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Aliso Viejo, Calif, recently announced the launch of a national campaign designed to broaden the awareness of pseudobular affect (PBA), a secondary condition that can impact patients following neurological conditions such as stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS), and traumatic brain injury (TBI), Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. The condition PBA is characterized by unpredictable crying or laughing episodes that are often incongruent with the patient’s current emotional state.
Patricia Pound, director of consumer marketing, Avanir Pharmaceuticals, notes that the company developed the campaign, “to educate patients and their caregivers. We really wanted to raise awareness of PBA [and] we just wanted them to get educated about it.” To accomplish this, the campaign encompasses a commercial, nationally syndicated on cable and intended to provide additional information about the condition, and a new informational website.
The commercial features patients experiencing symptoms of the condition and highlights the availability of a PBA Facts Kit, self assessments, and other resources which can be found on the website www.pbafacts.com. The site is also geared toward offering users guidelines about how to identify the condition, coping tips, and what patients should ask doctors.
The information shared on both the PBA Facts website and in the commercial can offer a mutual benefit to therapists, Pound says, by providing them the opportunity to request a PBA Facts Kit and the ability to access resources that outline the science behind PBA. Avanir notes that it worked with Jonathan Fellus, MD, neurologist, chief medical officer, International Brain Research Foundation, to create content for PBA Facts as a result of Fellus’ experiences with PBA patients.
The awareness campaign yields a wide range of “Aha moments,” in which patients note, “I felt alone, I didn’t know there was name for this,” according to Pound.
“We’re very excited about this and we’re hearing some great feedback,” Pound adds, and much of this feedback yields from patients and doctors alike who offer a collective, “‘Thank you for putting this out,’” she notes.
For more information about the campaign, click here.
Source: Avanir Pharmaceuticals
