PATIENT ADVOCATE, PEG FORD, ATTENDED GLOBAL SEMINAR IN SALZBURG, AUSTRIA,
TO CONSIDER THE ROLE PATIENTS CAN AND SHOULD PLAY IN HEALTHCARE DECISIONS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In December 2010, 58 people from 18 countries attended a Salzburg
Global Seminar in Salzburg, Austria to consider the role patients can and
should play in healthcare decisions. Those listed below have agreed a statement
that calls on patients and clinicians to work together to be co-producers of
health.
THE
SALZBURG STATEMENT ON SHARED DECISION MAKING
We call on clinicians to:
· Recognize
that they have an ethical imperative to share important decisions with patients
· Stimulate a
two-way flow of information and encourage patients to ask questions, explain
their circumstances, and express their personal preferences
· Provide
accurate information about options and the uncertainties, benefits, and harms
of treatment in line with best practice for risk communication
· Tailor
information to individual patient needs and allow them sufficient time to
consider their options
· Acknowledge
that most decisions do not have to be taken immediately, and give patients and
their families the resources and help to reach decisions.
We call on clinicians,
researchers, editors, journalists, and others to:
· Ensure that
the information they provide is clear, evidence-based, and up to date and that
conflicts of interest are declared.
We call on patients to:
· Speak up
about their concerns, questions, and what’s important to them
· Recognize
that they have a right to be equal participants in their care
· Seek and use
high-quality health information.
We call on policymakers to:
· Adopt
policies that encourage shared decision making, including its measurement, as a
stimulus for improvement
· Amend informed
consent laws to support the development of skills and tools for shared decision
making.
Why?
Much of the
care patients receive is based on the ability and readiness of individual
clinicians to provide it, rather than on widely agreed standards of best practice
or patients preferences for treatment.
Clinicians are
often slow to recognize the extent to which patients’ wish to be involved in
understanding their health problems, in knowing the options available to them,
and in making decisions that take account of their personal preferences.
Many patients
and their families find it difficult to take an active part in healthcare
decisions. Some lack the confidence to question health professionals. Many have
only a limited understanding about health and its determinants and do not know
where to find information that is clear, trustworthy, and easy to understand.
Salzburg Global Seminar: The
Greatest Untapped Resource in Healthcare? Informing and Involving Patients in
Decisions about Their Medical Care 12 – 17 December 2010 (Session 477)
Further details: http://www.SalzburgGlobal.org/go/477
PARTICIPANTS: Robinah N.
Alambuya, Shayma Ali, Kathi Apostolidis, Molly T. Beinfeld, Sanjay R. Bijwe,
Paulina Bravo, William Brocklehurst, Rachel Davis, “e-Patient Dave” deBronkart,
Anubhav Dhir, Carole R. Dodd, Marie-Anne Durand, Simon Eaton, Marjan Faber,
Christine M. Fisler, Peg A. Ford, Marion Grote Westrick, Dance Gudeva Nikovska,
Mark A. Hendy, Carole Johnson, Robert Johnstone, Steven Laitner, Lydia S. Lam,
Daniel M. Lee, Holly F. Lynch, Parag C. Mankeekar, Lairumbi M. Mbaabu, Layla
McCay, Marco Monti, Benjamin W. Moulton, Tendani C. Muthambi, Jenniffer T.
Paguio, Tessa Richards, Nadia N. Sawicki, Medha S. Talpade, Ruth Tunick,
Eckhard Volbracht, Bruce H. Wade, Richard M. Wexler, Biao Xu. FACULTY : Michael
Barry, Kate Clay, Angela Coulter, Jennifer Dixon, Susan Edgman-Levitan, Glyn
Elwyn, Gerd Gigerenzer, Carol Mangione, Roy Moynihan, Albert Mulley, Gary
Schwitzer, Anne Stiggelbout, John Wennberg. STAFF: Kathrin Bachleitner, John
Lotherington, Sinja Strangmann.
Media Contact:
Peg Ford (619) 437-8438
[email protected]
