You’re Invited to Participate! “Save the Date” Link, Calendar Invite Now Available for Nov. 2 PFDD Meeting
A “Save the Date” link is now available that provides the information you’ll need to view the livestream of our Externally-Led Patient-Focused Drug Development meeting on schizophrenia on Nov. 2.
The virtual meeting, “Reimagine Schizophrenia: Transforming How We Are Treated, Function and Thrive,” will run from 10 am to 3 pm ET, and will feature two panels of people who live with schizophrenia and those who care for them. We’ll also have discussion sessions on key topics that you can participate in via phone and email. (You won’t be required to disclose your name.)
When you click on the Save the Date link, it also will take you to an Early Comments form on our website, which you can use to submit comments on a variety of questions about living with schizophrenia. We may choose your comments to share with other participants during the meeting, and they could be included in our Voice of the Patient Report to be published after the meeting. Again, this type of participation won’t require you to be personally identified.
This meeting is an important chance for our community to help the FDA, drug developers and healthcare providers better understand how schizophrenia affects our lives and what we need from drug treatments to help us thrive. Please save the meeting date on your calendar today! It’s time for our voices to be heard.
About the PFDD meeting
The Externally-Led Patient Focused Drug Development (PFDD) meeting – “Reimagine Schizophrenia: Transforming How We Are Treated, Function and Thrive” – offers the chance for people living with schizophrenia and their family members to share their treatment needs and concerns with drug developers and FDA staff who review new drug applications. Many new treatments for schizophrenia are in development, making it more critical than ever for drug developers and reviewers to understand what treatment benefits people with schizophrenia expect – and what risks they may be willing to tolerate to achieve those benefits.
The virtual meeting will be co-hosted by the Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Mental Health America, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.
About schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a spectrum of serious neuro-psychiatric disorders in which people experience periods during which they interpret reality differently. Symptoms of schizophrenia may include a combination of visual and auditory hallucinations, false beliefs, cognitive impairments, and lack of awareness about how their thinking and behaviors may impair their daily life.
Schizophrenia is thought to be a progressive neurodevelopmental disorder, with the earliest signs most often appearing during adolescence, and sometimes in childhood. It often is not identified until young adulthood.
Approximately half of those with schizophrenia achieve recovery, living and working in the community; 25% of people need ongoing support; and approximately 15% do not see improvement. People with schizophrenia often experience co-occurring negative health outcomes, leading to a life expectancy shortened by an average of 28.5 years.