Researchers find strategies to improve decision-making in patients about their health
Washington, US: A new American Heart Association scientific statement highlighted evidence that supports shared decision-making, which is the process of ensuring patients have the knowledge and tools they need to make health-related decisions in collaboration with their professional health care team.
The statement was published in Circulation, the American Heart Association's flagship peer-reviewed journal.
Despite the fact that more than 100 trials have shown that shared decision-making improves patients' understanding, acceptance, and satisfaction with their health care, adequate levels of shared decision-making occur in as few as 10 per cent of face-to-face consultations across a wide range of health care specialties.
The statement includes models of shared decision-making and methods for measuring it in research, as well as strategies for encouraging its use.
Compensation for consultations, team-based care, integrating decision aids in electronic records, and training clinicians on cthat support shared zdecision-making more effectively and are sensitive to the cultural, racial, ethnic, and language considerations of each patient are all potential solutions to increase shared decision-making in cardiovascular care.
The writing group committee prepared this statement on behalf of the American Heart Association's Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing, Council on Clinical Cardiology, Council on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research, Council on Hypertension, Council on the Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease, Council on Lifelong Congenital Heart Disease and Heart Health in the Young (Young Hearts), Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health, Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health, Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health, Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabol.
Scientific statements issued by the American Heart Association raise awareness about cardiovascular diseases and aid in making informed healthcare decisions.
Scientific statements summarise what is currently known about a topic and what areas require further investigation. While scientific statements help to shape guidelines, they do not make treatment recommendations.
