Within the framework of a patient education training programme, a group of health sector professionals comprised of hospital doctors, general practitioners, nurses, physiotherapists and dieticians created a programme intended for people with peripheral vascular disease (intermittent claudication). A study was carried out simultaneously utilising a questionnaire and a series of four interviews which permitted professionals to collect data on the patients' expectations regarding such a programme and their points of view at each specific stage of its development. This article analyses the contribution of the patients to the therapeutic patient education programme design, namely with respect to their influence on the programme's content, on the educational process and approach as well as on the professionals' perspectives on disease, various treatments and people with this particular illness. The discussion highlights the range of goals and objectives that can potentially be met through dialogue and exchange between people suffering from the same disease.