Advocacy Training in the Caribbean, raising awareness with cancer patient organizations
Location: Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Jamaica
Year: 2023
Objective: facilitate strategic guidance support to oncology Patient Organizations to maximize their advocacy efforts’ impact.
Strategy: Advocacy capacity development for patient associations in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Jamaica to strengthen their advocacy skills as a key to fostering change in complex environments
Results: 14 representatives of cancer patient organizations improved their advocacy capabilities, their skills on crucial aspects such as stakeholder mapping, or the creation of value messages based on data and tools.
At the end of the workshop, the participants were able to articulate an action plan, clearly establishing the necessary actions to advocate for the hurdles they were facing in their specific health systems.
Assessment of advocacy capabilities in patient associations
Location: LATAM
Years: 2019 – 2023
Objective: Assess the advocacy capabilities of patient organizations across Latin American countries to determine their current stage and identify areas for improvement. This evaluation sought to identify the opportunities for improvement and refocus the training efforts that our client carries out with them, for a better resource allocation and a focused strategic approach.
Strategy: Development and improvement of a methodology for evaluating advocacy capabilities for patient organizations in LATAM
Result: We created a robust evaluation methodology comprising both qualitative and quantitative tools. This methodology assesses eight key criteria, including identification of access barriers, organizational impact, and relationships with decision-makers. It also classifies patient organizations into five distinct influence archetypes. During the study period from 2019 to 2023, this methodology was applied to +70 patient organizations across eleven LATAM countries, providing valuable insights for targeted training and development.
Policy accelerator in Central America
Location: Central America
Year: 2024
Objective: Assist patient organizations in Central America in crafting ambitious and actionable strategies for the main hurdles they are facing in their health ecosystems, along with feasible action plans to achieve their advocacy goals.
Strategy: Implement a three-month accelerator program modeled after successful start-up methodologies. This program included both in-person and virtual components.
Results: We developed and executed an impactful accelerator program tailored to the needs of patient organizations. Throughout the program, which engaged seven organizations across five countries, the following objectives were achieved:
• Applied advanced analytical tools to the objectives of patient association groups (PAGs).
• Provided training in strategic planning, project management, and activity coordination.
• Facilitated the development of actionable plans.
• Enabled significant progress on these action plans.
• Enhanced the impact capacity of organizations through the adoption of best practices and innovative actions introduced during the accelerator.
Innovative stakeholder mapping
Location: Central America
Year: 2022 – 2023
Objective: Broaden our client’s corporate strategies through engagement with atypical stakeholders.
Strategy: Implement a novel stakeholder mapping methodology designed to uncover non-traditional stakeholders.
Results: We were able to discover new potential alliances with stakeholders that were previously out of the radar. Our approach is focused on discovering “atypical or non-conventional stakeholders” — those who may not immediately appear connected to the business but are integral to the ecosystem. These stakeholders, which may include entities from the private, governmental, and academic sectors, often share similar objectives and interests, positioning them as potential strategic allies for collaborative efforts toward complementary goals. The methodology is particularly useful when organizations are facing standstills in their Corporate Affairs strategies or cannot find solutions to unlock longstanding hurdles.