BACKGROUND Evidence shows that the standard process for obtaining informed consent in clinical trials can be inadequate, with study participants frequently not understanding even basic information fundamental to giving informed consent. Patient decision aids are effective decision support tools originally designed to help patients make difficult treatment or screening decisions. We propose that...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Deciding whether to use intravenous fibrinolytic therapy for acute cerebral ischemia within 3 hours of onset is challenging for patients, family members, and health care providers. Visual displays can permit individuals to rapidly understand response patterns to therapy. This study sought to evaluate, refine, and improve existing visual aids for stroke fibrinolytic decisi...

BACKGROUND Prenatal screening tests for Down syndrome (DS) are routine in many developed countries and new tests are rapidly becoming available. Decisions about prenatal screening are increasingly complex with each successive test, and pregnant women need information about risks and benefits as well as clarity about their values. Decision aids (DAs) can help healthcare providers support women i...

Unlike novices, expert clinicians develop refined schemes and strategies that predictably allow them to provide a better quality, prompt and less error-prone patient care input. Empowering novices with cognitive aids or mental schemes as early as possible in their clinical career may significantly improve their critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making skills. These cognitive aids ...

BACKGROUND Decision Aids (DAs) effectively translate medical evidence for patients but are not routinely used in clinical practice. Little is known about how DAs are used during patient-clinician encounters. OBJECTIVE To characterize the content and communicative function of high-quality DAs during diagnostic clinic visits for prostate cancer. PARTICIPANTS 252 men newly diagnosed with local...

Shared decision-making (SDM) occurs when patients, families and clinicians consider patients' values and preferences alongside the best medical evidence and partner to make the best decision for a given patient in a specific scenario. SDM is increasingly promoted within Western contexts and is also being explored outside such settings, including in China. SDM and tools to promote SDM can improv...

Abstract Background Conversation aids can facilitate shared decision-making and improve patient-centered outcomes. However, few examples exist of sustained use conversation in routine care due to numerous barriers at clinical organizational levels. We explored factors that will promote the two early-stage breast cancer aids. examined differences opinions between across socioeconomic strata. Met...