Professor Glyn Elwyn, Cardiff University
Grant £283,251
Option Grids: easy to use shared decision making tools for disadvantaged groups
Aim
Patient decision support, called ‘shared decision making’, helps patients become active partners in making decisions about their health care and the self-management of their condition. It is known that the use of shared decision making tools leads to better patient knowledge, better decision quality and improved participation.
The aim of this research is to provide evidence that shared decision making tools are effective in brief formats (Option Grids), and this format is effective for use by people disadvantaged by low literacy or language barriers.
The research
Four Option Grids will be developed – two for chronic conditions (osteoarthritis and heart failure) and two for treatment options after a diagnosis of cancer (prostate and breast cancer). A group of health practitioners will be instructed in how to use Option Grids for patients who, for example, have osteoarthritis of the knee and where a range of treatment options exists, such as physiotherapy, joint injections and replacement.
The Option Grid is a piece of paper with a table of questions that patients commonly ask about a specific condition. They will be assessed for readability and translated into multiple languages. Interviews will be conducted with the practitioners and patients to measure the effectiveness of the Option Grids for people with lower literacy levels.
Public benefit
Nationally five percent of adults /have literacy skills either at or below the level of a seven year old.
This research hopes to provide evidence that shared decision making tools are also effective when provided in brief formats and designed so that they can be used by people who are disadvantaged by language or literacy barriers.
