Janssen Launches National Campaign to Recognize and Increase Support for Advanced Practice Providers Who Care for People Living with Multiple Myeloma

HORSHAM, Pa., September 26, 2023 – The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, in collaboration with the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology (APSHO), today announced the launch of Make It HAPPen™, a multi-year effort designed to recognize and support Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) in the life-changing care they provide to people living with multiple myeloma. The campaign launched in response to a recent national survey, which showed that, among people who are living with multiple myeloma, most (93%) viewed APPs as essential to their care, and more than half (61%) felt they could ask their APP questions they did not feel comfortable asking their doctor or oncologist.¹ The survey also revealed that among APPs — specifically nurse practitioners and physician assistants with advanced degrees — 4 in 5 (87%) wish they had more knowledge about multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer.²

Across treatment settings, providers who treat a rare blood cancer like multiple myeloma often face challenges, including delays in timely diagnosis, complex treatment decisions and inconsistent management of multiple myeloma that fails to address the broad needs of patients, such as psychosocial support and shared decision-making.^{3,4,5,6,7,8,9} In addition, these care providers are often treating many different types of cancer. While all members of an interdisciplinary treatment team can experience these challenges, it is particularly important to address these barriers among APPs given their critical role in helping patients manage the disease throughout their treatment journey, especially with a rare and highly variable cancer like multiple myeloma.

Inspired by the multitude of ways in which APPs improve patient care, Make It HAPPen^TM is focused on further improving outcomes in multiple myeloma by providing APPs with credible, streamlined and tailored resources, supporting them in their careers and recognizing their critical role in improving multiple myeloma care.

The national survey, commissioned on behalf of Janssen and APSHO, was fielded to 200 APPs who see at least three patients with multiple myeloma annually and to 100 patients with multiple myeloma. Among APPs, notable findings signifying a need for more curated multiple myeloma education and resources include:

• Over 9 in 10 (94%) want more educational resources specifically tailored to multiple myeloma, and the majority (76%) agree more resources and education would help improve the care they provide to patients.¹
• APPs seek greater access to professional conferences/events (51%), formal trainings (48%), and medical information websites solely dedicated to multiple myeloma (37%).¹
• 91% of APPs feel being more involved with patients at the time of their diagnosis would help them provide the best care possible.¹
• More than four in five APPs (83%) feel health disparities exacerbate issues in providing adequate care to multiple myeloma patients.¹

“The additional training that APPs undergo uniquely qualifies them to make important patient care decisions as part of an integrated team, but dynamic changes in the healthcare landscape have presented real challenges for APPs who treat multiple myeloma — where early diagnosis, treatment decisions and keeping patients on therapy are proven to shape prognosis for patients,” said Wendy Vogel, FNP, AOCNP, FAPO, Executive Director, APSHO. “APSHO is proud to collaborate with Janssen to launch this campaign as part of our effort to recognize all APPs who treat patients with cancer, including those with multiple myeloma, for all they do while empowering them with the tools they need to provide the best possible care.”

Survey findings also strongly pointed to the relationship between a patient and their APP as critically impactful to a patient’s clinical, educational, and emotional experiences.¹ Key findings include:

• Prior to being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, two in five (38%) patients had never heard of the disease.¹
• A majority of patients prefer to discuss certain aspects of care with their APP instead of their doctor/oncologist, such as support groups or patient organizations available to them (72%), insurance coverage or financial assistance resources (72%).¹
• Despite the value that APPs bring to their patient’s care, more than one-third of patients surveyed (36%) have never heard the term APP – a knowledge gap that may prevent patients from accessing the support they need.¹

“The survey findings validate what many APPs likely experience on an individual level but is now demonstrated collectively on a national level: we must do more to educate and build trust within our Oncology practice and with the patients we serve,” said Dwight Macero, MS, PA-C, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and an advisor for Make It HAPPen^TM. “Through insights from APPs in various treatment settings across the U.S., the Make It HAPPen™ campaign is putting a spotlight on the needs we have as APPs to access more education resources specific to multiple myeloma so that we can help our patients even more effectively along their journey.”

Informed by needs within the APP community, the Make It HAPPen™ launch signifies Janssen’s multi-year commitment to deliver solutions that help APPs better navigate multiple myeloma treatment, and, in turn, educate their patients. The campaign offers a series of webinars and resources highlighting the critical role an APP plays on a multiple myeloma treatment team as well as materials outlining experiences in treating multiple myeloma. Janssen also has sponsored a multiple myeloma-specific resource center with the Journal of the Advance Practitioner in Oncology (JAPDRO).

“APPs are a critical part of any care team and are trusted partners to hematologists and oncologists, with whom they work side-by-side,” said Tyrone Brewer, U.S. President, Oncology, Janssen Biotech, Inc. “Patients rely on APPs for resources and support to help them navigate the difficult journey of a cancer diagnosis and treatment while striving to maintain their quality of life. For that reason, we are proud to launch the Make It HAPPen™ campaign in collaboration with APSHO to further recognize the role of APPs. We are committed to learning about and addressing the needs of the communities we serve as we work toward improving outcomes for patients.”

For more information about the campaign, and resources for APPs and patients with multiple myeloma, visit MakeItHAPPenMM.com.

About Make It HAPPen™
Make It HAPPen™ is a national campaign launched by Janssen Oncology in partnership with the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology (APSHO). It aims to provide Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) with credible, streamlined and tailored resources, support them in their careers, and recognize their critical role in transforming multiple myeloma care.

The Make It HAPPen^TM campaign name is inspired by the important role APPs play as an indispensable part of a patient’s treatment team. It is meant to both evoke pride among APPs and recognize the positive impact they have on their patients and the healthcare community.

To access these resources and to learn more, visit MakeItHAPPenMM.com.

About the Survey
This survey was conducted online in the U.S. by The Harris Poll on behalf of Janssen and APSHO from May 15 to June 9, 2023. It was fielded among 100 U.S. adults who have been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and 200 Advanced Practice Providers (APPs), including 131 nurse practitioners and 69 physician assistants who see at least three patients with multiple myeloma annually. Raw data were not weighted and are therefore only representative of the individuals who completed the survey.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in surveys from The Harris Poll. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within ± 9.6 percentage points for patients and within ± 6.9 percentage points for APPs using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest.

About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson
At Janssen, we are creating a future where disease is a thing of the past. We’re the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, working tirelessly to make that future a reality for patients everywhere by fighting sickness with science, improving access with ingenuity, and healing hopelessness with heart. We focus on areas of medicine where we can make the biggest difference: Cardiovascular, Metabolism & Retina; Immunology; Infectious Diseases & Vaccines; Neuroscience; Oncology; and Pulmonary Hypertension.

Learn more at www.janssen.com. Follow us at @JanssenUS and @JanssenGlobal. Janssen Biotech, Inc. is part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

References

¹Janssen Oncology & The Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology & Oncology. About the Survey: This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Janssen Oncology & APSHO, from May 15-June 9, 2023 among 100 U.S. adults ages 18 and older who have been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and 200 APPs (Nurse Practitioners (NP) (n=131) and Physician Associates (PA) (n=69)) who see at least three patients with multiple myeloma annually.

²Cancer Stats: Myeloma. National Cancer Institute: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/mulmy.html

³Kariyawasan CC, Hughes DA, Jaytillake MM, Mehta AB. Multiple Myeloma: causes and consequences of delay in diagnosis. QJM. 2007; 100(10):635-40.

⁴Cornell RF, Kassim AA. Evolving paradigms in the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: increased options and increased complexity. Bone Marrow Transplantation. 2016;51(4):479-91.

⁵Gulla A, Anderson KC. Multiple myeloma: the (r)evolution of current therapy and a glance into future. Haematologica. 2020;105(10):2358-67.

⁶Goldman-Mazur S, Visram A, Rajkumar SV, Kapoor P, Dispenzieri A, Lacy MQ, et al. Second line treatment strategies in multiple myeloma: a referral-center experience. Blood. 2021;138(Supplement 1):819.

⁷Quinn B, Ludwig H, Bailey A, Khela K, Marongiu A, Carlson KB, et al. Physical, emotional and social pain communication by patients diagnosed and living with multiple myeloma. Pain Manag. 2022;12(1):59-74.

⁸Doubova SV, Terreros-Muñoz E, Delgado-Lòpez N, Montaño-Figueroa EH, Infante-Castañeda C, Pérez-Cuevas R. Experiences with health care and health-related quality of life of patients with hematologic malignancies in Mexico. BMC Health Serv Res. 2020;20(1):644.

⁹Unmet Needs in Multiple Myeloma. www.mmcta.com