Session (CTI)

Purpose: This joint Health Preference Research & Patient Centered Special Interest Group forum will showcase the integration of health preference research and patient engagement approaches to support patient and patient/provider shared decision making. This session will provide experience and evidence for using preference methods to inform individual treatment decisions while also following best practices in developing patient-focused decision support tools. Research shows that using structured, explicit activities (i.e., quantitative values clarification methods, or VCMs) to help patients clarify what matters most to them can: • improve patient understanding • reduce uncertainty, stress, and regret about decisions • help patients choose treatments that better match their personal values Health preference research (HPR) methods are appealing for use as individual-level VCMs in tools like patient decision aids. A systematic literature review conducted by the Health Preference SIG found limited guidance for developing, testing, and aligning HPR methods within patient decision support tools. Further, the patient-centeredness of HPR as VCMs has not been well established. This forum addresses that gap by offering practical guidance that integrates best practices from patient engagement, medical decision-making, communication science, and psychology. Dr. van Bemden will introduce decision support tools, explain how patients should be engaged in their development, and summarize evidence of benefits. She will focus on what makes decision support tools patient-centered. Dr. Peay will moderate and explain how established methods and evidence from other disciplines apply to quantitative, preference-based tools, and when health preference–based VCM are (and are not) appropriate and patient-centered. Dr. Poulos will discuss how to develop, test, and evaluate HPR methods for use in individual-level decision support. Dr. Van Til will review prior research on HPR methods as VCM, articulate gaps and research priorities, and discuss challenges that arise when developing patient-engaged decision support tools in both academic and industry settings.