Longtime readers know I’ve spent the last two years writing a book about peer-to-peer health care and the incredible work being done by patients, survivors, and caregivers. (Even longer-term colleagues and friends know I’ve had this project on simmer since I left Pew Research, but I got happily sidetracked a couple of times.) I am […]
Rebel Health
Patient-led innovation
Update: Here’s a link to the list I created based on the comments gathered here and on Twitter and LinkedIn. I am curating a list of organizations that are putting patient-led innovation to work. What follows is an incomplete list — please help me by sharing YOUR favorite peer-to-peer communities in the comments below. Extra […]
Champions fast-track innovations
Champions help take a scrappy patient-led idea to scale. They give Seekers, Networkers, and Solvers access to resources held by mainstream institutions such as funding, media attention, regulatory guidance, or access to labs and manufacturing facilities. Champions fast-track innovations. This is the fourth post in a series that I’m writing to introduce the archetypes of […]
Solvers attack problems
Solvers identify challenges, then test and develop new concepts, code, and inventions to meet their needs. They work on a problem with a singular focus because their life – or the life of a loved one – often depends on their ability to find or invent a solution. Some Solvers openly share their designs online for […]
Networkers pool resources
“You are not alone.” People who are newly diagnosed or facing a health challenge long to hear those words. Connection is an antidote to suffering and confusion. When they are able to tap into peer-to-peer networks of patients and caregivers, Networkers learn in community about their condition, shrug off the burdens of isolation and shame, then urge […]
Seekers go out on the hunt
As I’ve shared in previous posts, I’m writing a book for MIT Press about the key role that peer health advice plays at every level of our health care system. The people I’m describing in my book do not wait to be invited to create opportunities for positive change. They seize opportunities to take action. They reject […]
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