For years I tried to find ways to explain the particular challenges facing people with undiagnosed and rare health conditions. I decided to create a visualization showing the wide spectrum of people’s health needs and I’d like some feedback on it. Imagine a horizontal line. At the far left side are the people whose needs […]
Should peer health community moderators get paid?
Evidence is piling up in favor of peer health communities. The question is: How do we sustain them for the long-term? Here are 3 studies (of many) about the benefits of peer-to-peer health advice: A survey of the #bcsm community found that participation lowered people’s anxiety and increased their overall knowledge of breast cancer. A survey of […]
Celebrating #BCSM as a peer health innovation
Cancer patients were among my first peer health innovation teachers and remain, years later, among my favorite communities to follow. I keep an eye out for hashtags like #gyncsm (gynecological cancer social media), #bcsm (breast cancer social media), and #lcsm (lung cancer social media) on Twitter. I listen to podcasts like The Cancer Mavericks (and […]
Consumer-strength tools,
industrial-strength innovation
On August 31, I’ll be part of the 2021 Federal Wearables Summit. This post is my attempt to “flip” the event by sharing what I intend to say. Please let me know what you think in the comments below. In 1986, Eric von Hippel of MIT identified “lead users” as people who identify and solve […]
Peer health playbooks
I’m collecting examples of peer health playbooks: the how-to guides that patients and caregivers write so that people following their path won’t stumble into the same pitfalls. If you know of one that is not listed below, please tell me about it in the comments. I AM ALS put together a step-by-step playbook of how […]
Doing the work
I am thrilled to share that I am writing a book for MIT Press about the alchemy, grit, and soul of the health innovation pipeline that is powered by people connecting with each other to solve problems. Here’s the back story, which illustrates one of my core principles: Do the work that needs to get […]
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