Dr Kola Tytler MBBS CertHE MBA MRCGPClinical Lead • iatroX
Effectively communicating the risks and benefits of a treatment to ensure patient understanding and informed consent involves several key steps:
- Personalise the information: Tailor the discussion of risks, benefits, and consequences to the individual patient's life, values, and what matters to them, making clear how the information applies personally and acknowledging any uncertainties NICE NG197.
- Use clear, consistent numerical data: Present risks using absolute risks rather than relative risks, natural frequencies (e.g., 10 in 100) instead of percentages, and maintain consistent denominators when comparing risks NICE NG197.
- Employ multiple formats and visual aids: Support verbal explanations with patient decision aids, pictographs, or icon arrays to help patients see both positive and negative framing simultaneously (e.g., treatment success and failure rates) NICE NG197.
- Chunk information and check understanding: Break down information into manageable parts and use techniques like teach back, where patients explain back what they have understood, to confirm comprehension before proceeding NICE NG197.
- Discuss risks and benefits in context: Frame risks over a defined time period relevant to the patient and discuss both positive and negative outcomes to provide balanced information NICE NG197.
- Address patient concerns and preferences: Invite questions, explore worries, and adapt communication to the patient’s needs, including their desire for the amount of information and preferred communication methods NICE NG197,NICE NG204.
- For children and young people: Adapt explanations to their developmental stage, involve parents or carers as appropriate, and ensure ongoing confirmation of understanding and consent or assent NICE NG204.
Following these steps supports shared decision making, empowering patients to make informed, values-based decisions about their care NICE NG197.