Shared Decision Making in Health Care ─ Achieving Evidence-based Patient Choice

Over the past decade health care systems around the world have placed increasing importance on the relationship between patient choice and clinical decision-making. In the years since the publication of the second edition ofShared Decision Making in Health Care, there have been significant new developments in the field, most notably in the US where 'Obamacare' puts shared decision making (SDM) at the centre of the 2009 Affordable Care Act.

This new edition explores shared decision making by examining, from practical and theoretical perspectives, what should comprise an effective decision-making process. It also looks at the benefits and potential difficulties that arise when patients and clinicians share health care decisions. Written by leading experts from around the world and utilizing high quality evidence, the book provides an up-to-date reference with real-word context to the topics discussed, and in-depth coverage of the practicalities of implementing and teaching SDM.

The breadth of information in Shared Decision Making in Health Care makes it the definitive source of expert knowledge for healthcare policy makers. As health care systems adapt to increasingly collaborative patient-clinician care frameworks, this will also prove a useful guide to SDM for clinicians of all disciplines.

Glyn Elwyn, Professor, Dartmouth Institute for Health Care Policy and Clinical Practice, Hanover, NH, USA,Adrian Edwards,Director of the Institute of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, UK,Rachel Thompson,Assistant Professor, Dartmouth Institute for Health Care Policy and Clinical Practice, Hanover, NH, USA

Glyn Elwyn, MD MSc FRCGP PhD is a physician-researcher, Professor and Senior Scientist at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Dartmouth College, USA. After reading the humanities he qualified in medicine in the United Kingdom. He completed a masters in medical education (MSc) and a health services research doctorate (PhD) under the guidance of Professor Richard Grol in the Netherlands.

Professor Elwyn leads interdisciplinary research examining the implementation of shared decision making, user-centred design of patient decision support interventions and the integration of these into routine health care. He also holds the following positions: Honorary Research Chair at Cardiff University and Visiting Chair at the Scientific Institute for Quality of Healthcare, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Netherlands.

Professor Adrian Edwards is Professor in General Practice and Director of the Institute for Primary Care & Public Health at Cardiff University, Wales, UK. He is also a part-time general practitioner in Cwmbran, Gwent, South Wales and sees about 60 patients per week. He also has Visiting appointments at Aarhus and Southern Denmark Universities.

Dr Rachel Thompson is an Assistant Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Dartmouth College, USA. She conducts applied health services research that seeks to enhance provider-patient communication; facilitate shared decision-making by patients and providers; support providers to understand and respond to the needs and preferences of patients; and strengthen the patient voice in the design and evaluation of health services, clinical trials, and health care guidelines and policies. She has broader research interests in implementation science, particularly in research that seeks to increase understanding of barriers and enablers to the successful adoption of evidence-based innovations, and to successful disinvestment in futile or harmful interventions in health care.