Decision aids for people facing health treatment or screening decisions

A newCochrane Library Editorial has been published about the history of arecently updated Cochrane review on healthcare decision aids and its implications forpractice. There is also an accompanyingpodcast where you can hear the current lead author explain  the need for the review and its latest findings in under four minutes.Decision aids are one type of tool that can be used to support the process of shared decision making between patients and their health professionals, a key element of person-centred care and health system improvements.A major update to the landmark Cochrane review on decision aids has just been published with an analysis of 209 studies involving 107,698 participants. It provides clear evidence of the benefits of the use of decision aids over usual care across a huge array of health options, ranging from choices about cancer screening to decisions about major elective surgery.An accompanying editorial describes the influence of this  review on practice for over 20 years, with successive updates responding  to the changing understanding of decision aids and shared decision-making over this time. The review has been referred to in more than 90 clinical practice guidelines and has been one of the most cited reviews published in the Cochrane Library for over a decade.  With more convincing evidence of the benefits of  using decision aids now available, the editorial discusses implications for  practice and highlights some remaining challenges of implem...
Source: Cochrane News and Events - Category: Information Technology Authors: Source Type: news