Engaging patients and public in decision‐making: approaches to achieving this in a complex environment

摘要

We are living in a dynamic, rapidly changing world with a more informed society, members of which hold greater expectations of health‐care services and treatment outcomes. Consequently, the nature and delivery of health care is constantly changing, influenced by advances in medical science and technology, demography and greater public awareness of health and illness. These transformations have bearing on the dynamics of relationships that exist between patients and health‐care professionals. A key change is the balance of power within relationships with a move away from the previous paternalistic approach, to one of partnership working and shared decision‐making (SDM) based on currently available evidence.1.