AHRQ-Funded Articles Propose Strategies for Increasing Shared Decision-Making

The January issue of Patient Education & Counseling includes six AHRQ-funded articles and an editorial that discuss using evidence to facilitate shared decision-making between clinicians and patients. Articles in the journal offer strategies for reducing barriers to shared decision-making, which may include low health literacy, patients’ tendencies to defer decision-making to clinicians, inadequate skills among clinicians to communicate evidence to patients, and clinical environments that do not support patient involvement in making treatment choices. According to an editorial by Monique D. Cohen, Ph.D., M.P.H., health science administrator at AHRQ, the potential benefits of shared decision-making will not be realized unless policies and programs are enacted to increase participation among patients and families.