The importance of shared decision-making in health: lessons from the UK and NHS

There is compelling evidence that patients who are active participants in managing their health and care have better outcomes than patients who are passive recipients. That’s the rationale for the concept of medical shared decision-making, and it’s an objective for the United Kingdom’s National Health Service — the largest single payer of health care in the world, covering over 55 million people.

The arguments for, and obstacles blocking, the proliferation of shared decision-making (SDM) in health are detailed in Making Shared Decision-Making a Reality: No decision about me, without me, a report from The Kings Fund and the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making.