Following a successful pilot of online Patient Decision Aids (PDAs) for osteoarthritis of the knee, localised prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia, NHS Direct is now recruiting further sites to pilot PDAs in Secondary Care for chorionic villus sampling (CVS) or amniocentesis testing and breast cancer surgery choices, and in Primary Care for Prostate Specific Antigen testing.
Patient Decision Aids are designed to help patients make difficult decisions about their treatments and medical tests when there is no clear medical evidence to show one option is better than another. The aim is to increase patients’ awareness of the risks, benefits and outcomes by facilitating communication with their health professionals and empowering patients to make a more informed choice regarding their care.
Findings emerging from Phase 1 of the pilot have been very encouraging. Feedback from patients taking part included:
“All the necessary information was there in a simple illustrative manner"
“Easy to follow and explained in simple plain English“
“I now have an understanding of what I want to get across to the consultant”
As part of a three month service evaluation, NHS Direct will be piloting three new online Patient Decision Aids over the winter, and is therefore currently recruiting sites for:
If you are interested, or would like further information, please contact the Development Manager, Marie-Anne Durand (marie-anne.durand@nhsdirect.nhs.uk or 07825 657541).
