As patients grow more informed, connected and diverse, healthcare communications is moving beyond raising awareness to building trust and encouraging action. In this interview, Joy Khoury, Head of Communications & Patient Advocacy for the GCC & META Region at Novartis, explains why healthcare communicators should listen first and co-create with patients rather than speak on their behalf. She discusses how patient advocacy helps address unmet needs across the region, how communications can encourage earlier diagnosis, and how digitalisation is reshaping what patients expect. She also makes the case for closer collaboration between patients, healthcare professionals, policymakers and industry.
Q1. How can healthcare communications better put patients’ voices and experiences at the centre?
Joy Khoury: Healthcare communications can better put patients’ voices and experiences at the center by moving beyond speaking on their behalf and creating genuine platforms where they can speak for themselves. This starts with listening, truly understanding the realities behind a diagnosis and the personal stories that shape each patient’s experience.
When patient insights inform communications from the outset helping identify the issues that matter most, shaping messages, choosing channels, and defining impact, we create content that is both authentic and meaningful.
Equally important is recognizing that there is no single “patient experience.” Factors such as culture, age, gender, geography, and healthcare access influence what patients need and how they engage with information. This is especially true in a region such as the Middle East, where healthcare communicators engage with highly diverse communities representing a wide range of nationalities, languages, cultural perspectives, and lived experiences. Reaching patients effectively therefore requires a nuanced approach, one that balances broad accessibility with relevance to different audiences. A one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work.
At Novartis, we’ve seen the power of this principle in action. For example, through a patient advisory board for women living with multiple sclerosis, we heard directly from participants about the importance of accessible, culturally relevant resources and support that reflect the experiences of women in the region. These conversations inspired the MS Talks – Keep Moving Forward podcast, launched in partnership with Gulf News and the MS Talks 2.0 – Let’s discuss facts podcasts in partnership with Lovindubai hosted by an Emirati MS advocate. The result was a platform for authentic, culturally relevant dialogue, built on patient experiences, not assumptions. It’s a clear demonstration that when we listen first and co-create solutions, we amplify voices in a way that truly makes a difference.
Q2. What role does patient advocacy play in addressing unmet healthcare needs across the GCC and META region?
Joy Khoury: Patient advocacy plays an essential role as the bridge between healthcare systems and the people they are intended to serve. It shines a light on unmet needs that often remain invisible when viewed only through clinical, policy, or economic lenses.
In the GCC and META region, the diversity of healthcare systems, cultural contexts, and patient experiences makes this work even more critical. Advocacy ensures that these perspectives are part of the dialogue so that solutions are not just clinically sound, but also culturally relevant, accessible, and sensitive to local realities. Beyond shaping solutions, patient advocacy helps foster trust, encourage inclusive dialogue, and drive more equitable access to both information and care.
When patients have a seat at the table, every healthcare stakeholder benefits from clearer insights into the real barriers to diagnosis, treatment adherence, and quality of life. Ultimately, effective advocacy is a catalyst for healthcare systems that are truly people-centered better equipped to respond to real-world needs and deliver meaningful outcomes across such a dynamic, diverse region.
Q3. How can communications move beyond awareness to encourage earlier diagnosis and better health outcomes?
Joy Khoury: Awareness is an important first step, but on its own, it rarely changes behavior. To truly make an impact, healthcare communications must move from informing to empowering: giving people the confidence, clarity, and practical guidance they need to take action. That might mean recognizing symptoms early, seeking medical advice promptly, or prioritizing recommended screenings.
Achieving this requires communication that is clear, relevant, and culturally sensitive. We need to break down stigma, challenge misconceptions, and simplify complex medical information so people understand not just the risks, but the actionable steps that can protect their health.
At Novartis, we’ve seen the difference this approach can make through initiatives like We the Women, a platform we supported in partnership with Khaleej Times. The event brought together breast cancer survivors and healthcare professionals to share personal stories and expert insights on screening and early detection. By combining trusted medical guidance with authentic patient experiences, these conversations turned generic awareness into relatable and actionable steps helping women feel informed and inspired to take charge of their health.
Importantly, the goal is not only to raise awareness about breast cancer screening, but to bridge the gap between knowing and acting. Many women understand the importance of regular mammograms, yet fear, uncertainty, or stigma can still prevent them from taking that next step. Through sustained education and open dialogue, we aim to help remove those barriers, ensuring that knowledge becomes a source of empowerment and protection rather than something that remains only as awareness.
Q4. How are digitalisation and changing patient expectations reshaping healthcare communications?
Joy Khoury: Patients today are more informed, more connected, and expect healthcare information to be accessible, credible, timely, and tailored to their individual needs. Digitalization is enabling us to meet those expectations, but it’s also elevating the responsibility we carry as communicators. The digital space offers powerful opportunities to listen more closely, understand the questions patients are asking, and engage with them through platforms they already use. It also allows us to make complex medical information easier to understand and create online communities where people feel supported and less isolated in their experiences.
However, greater access to information does not automatically mean better information. Trust, accuracy and empathy remain essential, as does our responsibility to ensure that the information patients encounter is evidence-based, up to date, and presented in a way that is both clear and meaningful. In healthcare, a fast response is not enough if the information is misleading or lacks context. I see digitalization as an opportunity to make communications more human, not less. The technology gives us new ways to listen and engage, but the principles remain the same: understand people, respect their experiences and provide information they can trust.
Q5. What can greater collaboration between patients, healthcare professionals, policymakers and industry achieve?
Joy Khoury: No single stakeholder can solve today’s healthcare challenges alone. The most meaningful and lasting progress happens when patients, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and industry come together around common goals and ground those goals in a true understanding of patient needs.
Collaboration makes it possible to identify barriers earlier, align priorities, and design solutions that reflect the realities of an entire patient journey not just one part of it. It ensures that policies, programs, and awareness initiatives are shaped by both scientific evidence and lived experience. When every voice is at the table, especially the patient’s, we move closer to solutions that truly work in the real world.
6. How can the healthcare industry contribute to more meaningful conversations across the patient journey?
Joy Khoury: The healthcare industry plays a pivotal role in creating spaces where patients feel heard, respected, and empowered throughout every stage of their journey from prevention and diagnosis through to treatment and long-term care. Meaningful conversations always begin with listening. Rather than focusing solely on awareness, we need to facilitate dialogue that brings patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals together to share experiences and address real-world challenges collaboratively.
Partnerships are key to making this happen. At Novartis, we regularly collaborate with organisations such as the Emirates Oncology Society, Friends of Cancer Patients, and the Emirates Cardiac Society to improve awareness and support patient education in the UAE. Similar partnerships help amplify voices in oncology and pave the way for better outcomes in critical disease areas.
This commitment reflects who we are as a company. At Novartis, we focus on delivering breakthroughs where the need is greatest: cardiovascular disease, oncology, immunology (including chronic spontaneous urticaria), neuroscience, and rare conditions. Across these areas, we pair scientific innovation with a deep understanding of patient perspectives. We actively seek out patient insights to inform decision-making, make clinical research more inclusive, and design services and solutions that are practical, relevant, and life-changing.
Ultimately, meaningful communication isn’t just about sharing information, it’s about connecting with empathy and honesty. By providing information that people can trust, we empower patients to take charge of their health and help create a healthcare system that works for everyone.”
