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Showing results for tags 'Decision making'.
Found 322 results
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Content ArticleThis WHO report includes six case studies from 12 individuals with lived experience of diverse health conditions. These case studies explore the topics of power dynamics and power reorientation towards individuals with lived experience; informed decision-making and health literacy; community engagement across broader health networks and health systems; lived experience as evidence and expertise; exclusion and the importance of involving groups that are marginalized; and advocacy and human rights. It is the first publication in the WHO Intention to action series, which aims to enhance the limited evidence base on the impact of meaningful engagement and address the lack of standardized approaches on how to operationalise meaningful engagement. The Intention to action series aims to do this by providing a platform from which individuals with lived experience, and organisational and institutional champions, can share solutions, challenges and promising practices related to this cross-cutting agenda.
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News ArticlePatients are being urged to shop around on the NHS app and website to cut their waiting time for treatment in England. IT systems have been updated to allow patients to more easily exercise their right to choose where they go for planned care, such as knee operations. They will now be able to view up to five providers - filtered by distance, waiting times and quality of care. But hospitals warned staffing shortages still needed to be tackled to make the biggest impact on waits. The idea of choosing where to go for treatment has been in place since the early 2000s, but few use it. Currently only1 in 10 exercises their right to choose, with patients reporting they are not always offered a choice of where to go or that it is hard to select different venues. Ministers believe that by searching the list of different hospitals, patients will be able to reduce their waits - potentially by up to three months, research suggests. Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 May 2023
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Content Article
NICE decision aid: Should I take a statin?
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Heart conditions
This decision aid from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) can help you if you are thinking about taking a statin. It is for people who do not already have heart disease and have not had a stroke. You can use it to help you to talk about your options with your healthcare professional (such as your doctor, pharmacist or nurse). -
Content ArticleRecently, there has been a concerning increase in the number of deaths of pregnant women, especially from Black, Asian and deprived backgrounds. In addition, there have been several investigations into safety issues in maternity services, such as the Ockenden, East Kent, and Shrewsbury and Telford report. This National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Collection highlights evidence in priority areas, identified in the East Kent report, to support high-quality care and avoid safety issues in maternity services.
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Content ArticleTo support patients to understand the risks of taking sodium valproate during pregnancy, NHS England has launched two new shared decision-making tools. This is part of an NHS-wide effort to reduce the use of valproate in people who can get pregnant, and to help those that do continue with valproate to prevent pregnancies.
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Content ArticleThis article looks at the experience of Tammy Dobbs, who has cerebral palsy and requires extensive support from home carers to carry out daily tasks. In 2016, Tammy's care needs were reassessed by the state of Arkansas where she lives, and the hours of support she was eligible to receive were cut in half. The change in eligibility was due to a new state-approved algorithm that had calculated her support needs in a new way, in spite of the fact that there was no change to her level of need. The situation caused Tammy much distress and resulted in drastic life changes. The article highlights the issues associated with the use of algorithms to determine need and allocate resources in health and social care. It also raises questions about what transparency means in an automated age and highlights concerns about people’s ability to contest decisions made by machines.
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Content ArticleThis webinar shares the findings of a co-production project in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) to remove barriers to shared decision making. The partners in the project were the ICB’s Personalised Care Team, the My Life Choices lived experience panel, the Patient Information Forum (PIF) and the Patients Association. Over the course of six co-production meetings, they developed simple resources to support patients and professionals to have better shared decision making conversations. Speakers discuss practical solutions to help patients and professionals get the most from limited appointment times which can be applied nationally.
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Content Article
Infopool prostate cancer patient resource
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Cancers
This patient resource created by Prostate Cancer Research aims to equip patients and the public with information about prostate cancer. It contains information on: testing and diagnosis treatment choices living with side effects clinical trials. -
Content ArticleGuidance needs to be applied in a careful, caring and person-centred way to ensure that patients benefit from, and are not harmed by, healthcare. In this blog, Dr Sam Finnikin, an academic GP in Sutton Coldfield, uses the story of 86 year-old Joan to illustrate the importance of shared decision-making in ensuring patients receive the most appropriate care. Joan was prescribed multiple medications by the hospital cardiology team after being diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome and a severely impaired left ventricle, but the medications made her feel very unwell and inhibited her quality of life. Joan then reached out to her GP surgery as she wanted to stop taking them, and Dr Finnikin realised that she and her family were unaware of the the reason each medication had been prescribed and the potential benefits and side effects of each one. After a long conversation about her priorities, Joan stopped the medications that were not benefitting her symptoms and died in peace and comfort at home a few weeks later. Dr Finnikin argues that shared decision-making is not an optional extra, but must be considered a vital part of healthcare, stating that "omitting shared decision making can be just as harmful to patients as being ignorant of clinical recommendations."
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Content ArticleThe nature of patient needs and ward activity is changing. Inpatients tend to be more ill than they used to be, many with complex needs often arising from multiple long-term conditions. At the same time, hospitals face the challenges of a shortage and high turnover of registered nurses. This review presents recent evidence from National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded research, including studies on the number of staff needed, the support workforce and the organisation of care on the wards. While few research studies have explored the similar pressures that occur in community and social care, the learning from hospitals may be useful to decision makers in these areas.
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News Article
NHS treatment algorithms ‘not taking transgender patients into account’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A host of algorithms used by medics to assess disease risk and help make decisions on treatment are failing to take transgender patients into account, doctors have said. Many metrics and thresholds in medicine, including ideal body weight, alcohol clearance rates, kidney function and risk of cardiovascular disease vary by gender. A team of UK doctors and medical students have issued a warning over a lack of evidence as to whether trans patients should be considered for these gender-based scores according to their gender assigned at birth or the gender they have transitioned to – or whether alternative scores are required. In an effort to tackle the issue, the team have launched a research initiative called Trans Gap Project. Dr Michael Niman, a junior NHS doctor and chair of the project, said: “Currently, daily medical decisions involving gender-based scores have limited to no research for the trans community. This means that trans patients are often forgotten about or not considered in the medical world, leading to a significant gap in their access to appropriate medical care.” “When scores that haven’t considered trans people are used, patient autonomy is impaired for trans and gender-diverse patients, as they can’t make true informed decisions on their care – which is one of the bioethic pillars,” Niman said. In some cases, there could be safety concerns. “Clinicians are currently faced with uncertainty regarding the best clinical practice to address these scenarios, owing to a lack of evidence-based guidance,” Niman said. “It is vital clinicians take a vested interest in the research of gender-based scores for the trans community due to the importance of safe practice considerations within the NHS.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 5 May 2023 -
Content ArticleThe Dutch Hospital Patient Safety Program started in 2008. It initially ran for five years, and its aim was to decrease adverse events by 50% in all Dutch hospitals. A second National Safety Program launched in 2020. This focuses on reflection, interprofessional collaboration and explaining process variation in daily practice. It also looks to foster more patient involvement and shared decision making. The ultimate aim is to reach a significant reduction in preventable patient harm. This webinar provides an overview of patient safety in the Netherlands and discusses these two initiatives and their implementation, outcomes and ongoing impact.
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Content ArticleThis book published by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) looks at risk communication—the communication approach used for situations when people need good information to make sound choices. It is distinguished from public affairs (or public relations) communication by its commitment to accuracy and its avoidance of spin. Effective risk communication between healthcare professionals and patients is important to ensure patient safety, and in various chapters of the book, the authors look at how to maximise effective communication in healthcare scenarios.
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Content ArticleThe objective of this study from Sharma et al. was to evaluate the accuracy of a new elective surgery clinical decision support system, the ‘Patient Tacking List’ (PTL) tool (C2-Ai(c)) through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. They found that the PTL tool was successfully integrated into existing data infrastructures, allowing real-time clinical decision support and a low barrier to implementation. ROC analysis demonstrated a high level of accuracy to predict the risk of mortality and complications after elective surgery. As such, it may be a valuable adjunct in prioritising patients on surgical waiting lists. Health systems, such as the NHS in England, must look at innovative methods to prioritise patients awaiting surgery in order to best use limited resources. Clinical decision support tools, such as the PTL tool, can improve prioritisation and thus positively impact clinical care and patient outcomes.
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Content ArticleThe West of England AHSN, in partnership with NIHR ARC West and Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB), has created the Evidence Works online toolkit. Its aim is to provide step-by-step support for anyone working in health and care to find, appraise and apply evidence for service change or to develop new products, projects or pilots. The toolkit offers a useful starting point, to help you find and access the most relevant evidence and signpost you to more information and specialist help, should you need it.
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Content ArticleA doula, according to Doula UK (2022), provides ‘support in pregnancy, birth and in the postnatal period by providing information, advocacy, and practical and emotional support to the whole family’. This blog by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) maternity team outlines why HSIB decided to investigate the role of doulas in maternity safety and the results of their investigation. It highlights discrepancies in doula training and several cases where doulas stepped outside of the boundaries of their role. HSIB argues that there is a need for further work to understand how families view the role of doulas during pregnancy and birth.
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Content ArticleHow can your team improve decision-making and performance in an unpredictable world? The field of Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM) supports organisations in understanding and leveraging expertise. Over the past 40 years, NDM researchers and practitioners have helped clients achieve higher ROI, improve safety, and increase efficiency. In this presentation series captured from our 2022 NDMA Open House, you'll hear directly from leaders in the NDM field. They'll share a variety of key concepts, case studies, tools, and insights that you can use to improve how your team makes decisions—especially when stakes are high and conditions are uncertain.
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Content ArticleIn this 1202 Human Factors Podcast, Rob Hutton gives us an insight into naturalistic decision making and how it takes methods out of the Lab.
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Content ArticleThis report outlines the results of the Patient Information Forum's (PIF's) 2022 survey and sets out progress made in the crucial areas of health and digital literacy since the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Content ArticleTo receive and participate in medical care, patients need high quality information about treatments, tests, and services—including information about the benefits of and risks from prescription drugs. Provision of information can support ethical principles of patient autonomy and informed consent, facilitate shared decision making, and help to ensure that treatment is sensitive to, and meets the needs and priorities of, individuals. Patients value high quality, written information to supplement and reinforce the verbal information given by clinicians. This is the case even for those who do not want to participate in shared decision making. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency with which relevant and accurate information about the benefits and related uncertainties of anticancer drugs are communicated to patients and clinicians in regulated information sources in Europe. The findings of this study highlight the need to improve the communication of the benefits and related uncertainties of anticancer drugs in regulated information sources in Europe to support evidence informed decision making by patients and their clinicians.
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EventuntilThis webinar shares the findings of a co-production project in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) to remove barriers to shared decision making. The partners in the project were the ICB’s Personalised Care Team, the My Life Choices lived experience panel, the Patient Information Forum (PIF), and us, the Patients Association. The project was one we highlighted during Patient Partnership Week last year; you can learn more about it before attending this webinar by watching the recording of the Partnering with patients and communities - what's happening in ICSs session. Over the course of six co-production meetings, we developed simple resources to support patients and professionals to have better shared decision making conversations. This webinar shares the findings of the project. Speakers will discuss practical solutions to help patients and professionals get the most from limited appointment times which can be applied nationally. Register
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Content ArticleA key priority for all involved in the development, manufacture and prescription of medicines is safety. To keep patients safe, regulators and pharmaceutical manufacturers have a statutory obligation to provide product information covering the most important instructions on how to take medicines correctly. This report by Kent Surrey Sussex Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) outlines the findings of a project around the accessibility of medication information. Patients, carers, healthcare professionals (HCPs) and senior healthcare system stakeholders were asked what they think about current medicines product information, and if it could be improved using digital solutions.
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Content ArticleThis long read by the Nuffield Trust looks at priority areas where further development and action could help improve the effectiveness of virtual wards. It outlines different models for virtual wards and looks at how to ensure effective system oversight. It also highlights the need to ensure the workforce is equipped to run virtual wards effectively and safely.
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Content Article
Consent to treatment such as operations and diagnostic procedures can only be truly informed if the patient understands the risks, benefits and alternatives. They also need to have considered what will happen if they choose not to have any treatment at all. A failure to obtain informed consent is not only unlawful, but can contribute to lasting physical and psychological harm. In this blog, hub Topic Leader Julie Smith looks at the different areas to consider when creating written information that is genuinely useful to the patient. Julie’s advice also helps readers understand how they can provide information that is medico-legally sound.- Posted
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Content ArticleThis article in BBC Science Focus looks at the factors driving an increase in testosterone prescribing for women in the UK. The author, Dr Michelle Griffin, highlights the need to ensure that there is a strong evidence base for prescribing testosterone to women. While there have been some clinical trials and studies around testosterone as a treatment for low libido, there is concern that patients, doctors and pharma companies are relying on anecdotal accounts of its effectiveness to treat symptoms such as low mood, poor concentration and tiredness. She also highlights that testosterone prescribing is just one example of the lack of research going into women's health issues and treatments, and argues that this is contributing to health inequity.
