Deconstructing patient centred communication and uncovering shared decision making: an observational study

Background  

Patient centred communication (PCC) has been described as a method for doctor-patient communication. The principles of shared decision making (SDM) have been proposed more recently.     

Organisational change theory and the use of indicators in general practice

General practices are making greater use of indicators to help shape and develop organisational arrangements supporting the delivery of health care. Debate continues concerning what exactly such indicators should measure and how they should be used to achieve improvement. Organisational theories can provide an analytical backdrop to inform the design of indicators, critique their construction, and evaluate their use. Systems theory, organisational development, social worlds theory, and complexity theory each has a practical contribution to make to our understanding of how indicators work in prompting quality improvements and why they sometimes don't. This paper argues that systems theory exerts the most influence over the use of indicators. It concludes that a strategic framework for quality improvement should take account of all four theories, recognising the multiple realities that any one approach will fail to reflect.     

Making interactive decision support for patients a reality

Interactive decision support applications might help patients to make difficult decisions about their health care. They lie in the context of traditional decision aids, which are known to have effects on a number of patient outcomes, including knowledge and decisional conflict. The problem of restricted uptake with decision aids may be addressed by interactive applications, particularly if associated with health information websites. We suggest that there may be an impact on the doctor-patient relationship and that this presents a number of opportunities. However, there are ethical challenges such as information bias and commercialisation.     

Manufactured but not imported: new directions for research in shared decision making support and skills

Significant conceptual work on shared decision making has taken place but there are still significant challenges in achieving it in routine clinical practice. This paper outlines what research has identified to date that may promote shared decision making, and the further research that is required to enable continuing progress. Greater understanding of the models of decision making and instruments to identify them in practice are still required. Specifying consumer competences, developing instruments to assess these and interventions to enhance them may also be important. Clarifying all these aspects may enable those charged with training professionals to improve the content of professional development programmes. This may be particularly important in the field of cancer treatments where the stakes are high-patients usually desire much information but their desire for involvement in decision making is more variable. The consequences of getting this balance right or wrong are significant with much to be gained or lost. Continued development and evaluation of decision aids and decision explorers that use interactive technology will also be important in identifying how to progress with consumer involvement. If we can learn these lessons, then wider implementation of shared decision making or consumer involvement may become a nearer prospect.     

Impact of case management by advanced practice nurses in primary care on unplanned hospital admissions: a controlled intervention study

Background  

Increasing unplanned hospital admissions disrupt planned health care, lead to additional morbidity and are expensive. A recent review found only weak evidence for case management preventing unplanned admissions, yet case management of older people is being implemented widely in the UK. We aimed to study the effect of advanced practice nurse case management on unplanned medical and geriatric hospital admission rates in patients 50 years and over, and on admission risk in a 'higher risk' sub-group of patients in the UK.