Details
Patient involvement in decisions about care
-
Patient involvement in decisions about their care is one aspect of patient engagement and experience. Evidence tells us that supporting patients to be actively involved in their own care, treatment decisions, and support can improve outcomes and experiences and potentially yield efficiency savings for the system.
Key Resources
The Primary Care Patient Experience Survey and Primary Care Patient Experience Survey: Support Guide are designed to help primary care practices achieve the goals of improving access to care and the care experiences of their patients. The guide is a handbook for practices planning to survey patients in a primary care setting. The Primary Care Patient Experience Survey contains the specific question related to this indicator
Shared decision making NICE guideline [NG197] Published: 17 June 2021
The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Patient Decision Aids
Change Ideas
-
- Build shared decision-making into standard processes
The SHARE Approach—Putting Shared Decisionmaking Into Practice: A User’s Guide for Clinical Teams supports the training of healthcare professionals on how to engage patients in healthcare decision making
NICE Shared decision making learning package for health care professionals
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Implementation Toolkit - Use a health equity approach
Personalize communicating risks, benefits and consequences for patients
Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit, 2nd edition, can help primary care practices reduce the complexity of health care, increase patient understanding of health information and enhance support for patients of all health literacy level - Provide education to patients and their caregivers
Provide access to specific patient decision aids. The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute provides an A to Z Inventory of Decision Aids
Use techniques such as the teach-back method to ensure patients and caregivers can recall and restate their care instructions in their own words. Learn More about Teach Back
Ask Me 3: Good Questions for Your Good Health. Designed by health literacy experts, Ask Me 3 is intended to help patients become more active members of their health care team, and provide a critical platform to improve communications between patients, families, and health care professionals
- Build shared decision-making into standard processes
Last Updated: August 26, 2026
