The Problem: Decision-making among members of a group entails aggregating the opinions of the constituents. If the opinions are unconstrained, then concensus typically fails when any vote is taken. In contrast, when opinions reflect a shared model of the domain, then concensus is likely, assuming members can communicate accurately the reasons for their individual choices. How, then, will concen...

DURING THE 20TH CENTURY, MEDICAL DECISION MAKing shifted from a paternalistic approach to an autonomy-based standard in the United States. Now, in the 21st century, the pendulum is swinging back and the medical community and the public are increasingly embracing shared decision making. In many other parts of the world paternalism remained the primary approach, yet there is now a move toward sha...

Shared decision making involving patients and physicians has gained adherents in Israel and other countries and has many virtues. This commentary argues that medical decision making should ideally be shaped by the particular needs and preferences of the patient, which may be to share in decision making, or at times call for a physician to assume full responsibility for decisions or, at the othe...

A 'consensus decision' is when the members of a group choose, collectively, between mutually exclusive actions. In humans, consensus decisions are often made democratically or in an 'equally shared' manner, i.e. all group members contribute to the decision. Biologists are only now realizing that shared consensus decisions also occur in social animals (other than eusocial insects). Sharing of de...

BACKGROUND Shared decision making (SDM), a process by which health professionals and patients go through the decision-making process together to agree on treatment, is a promising strategy for promoting diet-related decisions that are informed and value based and to which patients adhere well. The objective of the present study was to identify dietitians' salient beliefs regarding their exercis...

BACKGROUND There is increasing interest in interventions that can support patients who face difficult decisions and individuals who need to modify their behaviour to achieve better outcomes. Evidence for effectiveness is used to categorize patients care. Effective care is where evidence of benefit outweighs harm: patients should always receive this type of care, where indicated. Preference-sens...

Patients should be involved in making decisions about their health care. The ethical imperative of autonomy is reflected in legal trends that require a high standard of disclosure for informed consent, amounting to a principle of informed choice. Outcomes of care and adherence to treatment regimens improve when patients are more involved. 5 Consumerism is part of the social spirit, and governme...