In this article, Jane Lewis summarises findings from a systematic review of studies from around the world published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The review found that patients have a tendency to overestimate the benefits of medical tests, treatments and screens, while underestimating their potential harms.
In this article, Dr Steven Laitner, National Clinical Lead for the Right Care Shared Decision Making Programme, briefly explores the benefits of shared decision making and highlights work by the Right Care shared decision making programme to develop patient decision aids.
Group Health Study Shows the Use of Decision Aids was Linked with Sharply Reduced Rates of Elective Surgery for Arthritis
This article describes research by Group Health showing that use of decision aids for arthritis patients resulted in a 38% reduction in knee replacement surgeries, a 26% reduction in hip replacement surgeries and a 12% decline in healthcare costs over a six month period.
In this blog, Anna Dixon cites evidence that when patients are systematically given information and supported to make a decision about their treatment, the population intervention rates have been shown to be dramatically lower, yet only half of patients say they were always involved in decisions about their care.
This articles sets out how shared decision making can reduce unwarranted variation and lead to care that's more responsive to patient preferences.