A CASE STUDY IN MULTI-MODAL RESEARCH
Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the Illness Narrative
For most brand teams, insights arising from dialogue research provide the level of understanding required to bridge critical communication gaps. Occasionally, teams will want an even deeper understanding of the patient illness narrative. While the conversations captured in the physician’s office are critical, additional and valuable insight can be gained from an analysis of other conversations patients are having:
- The illness narrative apparent in conversations patients have outside the exam room
- The illness narrative that emerges from conversations in the home
- The illness narrative that patients recount to themselves
- LISTEN: Leverage natural exam-room dialogue to understand how patients characterize their illness to their physicians
- QUESTION: Conduct follow-up telephone interviews with these same patients to dive deeper into the insights gleaned from the dialogue analysis
- OBSERVE: Witness patients in their homes through ethnographic observation, to explore how they manage and cope with their illness, and reveal their personal illness narrative