Table 1

Guidelines on the component parts of patient information by goal of intervention.

Intervention purpose
Inform/prepare/educateParticipate/informed decision makingParticipate/shared decision making
Components
Passive patientReadable or comprehensible summary of illness or health condition
RoleReadable or comprehensible information about pros and cons of treatment option(s)
Risk figures presented in an accessible way: note; not verbal equivalents (for example, low/high)
Information about procedures, aftercare, and other information sources
Patient prompt to prepare questions for consultation
Explicit reference to the decision to be made
Figure to represent decision options and outcomes
Layout to help patients reason about options' attributes
Technique to help patient express values about outcomes
Technique to encourage reasoning/trade-offs
Active patientClinician prompt to provide expert opinion and/or evidence
RoleClinician training to understand and negotiate choices based on different values and experience
  • Reproduced from Winterbottom A, Conner M, Mooney A, Bekker HL. Evaluating the quality of patient leaflets about renal replacement therapy across UK renal units. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2007; 22(8): 2291–2296. By permission from the European Renal Association − European Dialysis and Transplant Association.32