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What happens when we stop calling people “subjects” and start inviting them to help build the solutions they need? We sit down with pharmacist and patient engagement leader Mark Duman to unpack how language, literacy, and lived experience can transform clinical trials, medtech, and digital health from the ground up. Mark introduces his three Cs—co-creation, choice, and coaching—and shows how each one moves care from doing to people toward working with and learning from them.
We dig into the hidden pitfalls of relying solely on patient advocacy groups, why representation matters, and how to reach the millions who never join a mailing list but live with the biggest burdens. Mark shares a practical bridge: “staff as patients,” an internal, compliant way for organisations to hear real stories and test assumptions. From there, we explore informed consent that genuinely informs, outcomes data people can understand, and the right to know who is treating you and how good they are—without drowning in jargon.
The conversation then zooms out to health literacy and data literacy as core citizenship skills. Wearables, home testing, and portals promise insight, but only if people can interpret trends, risk, and uncertainty. We talk about building inclusive paths for both digital-first and low-tech preferences, making space for community-driven solutions. Parents in rare diseases show what’s possible when lived experience meets scientific rigour: they convene experts, shape protocols, and even spark new therapies. That is the “meeting of experts” mindset—clinical knowledge and daily life experience on equal footing.
Finally, we take on prevention and incentives. Can industry support prevention without fearing cannibalisation? Some already do, and the smarter lens treats trust and long-term health impact as strategic assets. We close with concrete steps any team can take: map patient journeys, test language for clarity, co-design eConsent, reduce protocol burden, compensate fairly, and measure how patient input changes recruitment and retention. Subscribe, share with a colleague who designs studies or products, and leave a review telling us one phrase you’ll stop using and what you’ll say instead.
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Hosts
Alexander Booth aka the MedTech Guy
Dimitri Borisevich aka the start-up Guy
Ivanna Rosendal aka the R&D pharma Gal
Ireland