Patients must be adequately informed and comprehend their medical conditions in order to be able to advocate for their own health. Many patients have poor health literacy, which indicates vulnerability and increases the risk of negative health outcomes. Giving information to vulnerable patients in a format they can access is difficult. One innovative strategy is to change clinical care procedures so that medical practices provide patients with the essential and easily accessible information concurrently with their provider visit. By encouraging informed decision-making, the objective is to raise the standard of medical care in clinical practice. 2.
Ethical principles support informed decision-making. Patients’ personal values should be taken into account when making decisions about their medical care, along with their knowledge of the options and treatments available to them, their potential outcomes, and these information. Although ethical principles encourage making informed decisions, evidence suggests that clinical practice does not always uphold these ideals. A minority of patient decisions actually follow criteria created by Braddock and colleagues. 3 Using the least stringent criteria, they found that approximately 20% of interactions met the criteria for an informed decision Improvements are required to ensure that informed decision-making occurs in clinical practice, according to these studies and others. 3–6.
Importance of making informed decisions
Here are several reasons its important to make informed decisions:
What is an informed decision?
When people have all the information pertinent to the decision topic, they can make an informed decision. It entails weighing the advantages, disadvantages, and risks of each choice to determine which is best for you. You can choose the option that best satisfies your needs and moves you toward achieving your goals after taking into account all the factors associated with each choice.
Tips for making an informed decision
Following are some suggestions for making wise decisions:
Take a reasonable amount of time to decide
It’s crucial to take your time and make an informed decision when making one so that your options don’t change or become unavailable. If too much time passes, the factors and results of each choice might change. For instance, if you’re choosing between job offers, you should make your decision before each one expires.
Talk to others about your decision
Its helpful to talk to other individuals about your decision. You can give them specifics about each choice, including the variables involved, potential consequences for you, and potential outcomes. They could offer you insightful criticism or worthwhile guidance regarding the best course of action. If they have made a decision that is similar to yours, it will be helpful to ask them about their decision-making process, the factors that influenced their choice, and the results of their choice.
How to make an informed decision
Use these steps to help you make an informed decision:
1. Determine the issue
First, determine the issue that the informed decision can solve. By making a choice, decide what aspects of your life you want to improve or what issues you want to resolve. Asking yourself which choice will help you achieve your goals and what challenges each choice presents will help you pinpoint the problem. As an illustration, your dilemma might be selecting a presentation format or deciding which college to attend.
2. Gather data
Once you’ve determined the problem, start accumulating data that will allow you to make an informed choice. Ask questions that will give you more context for each choice. Here are some queries you can pose to others and to yourself to learn more:
3. Research your options
Perform research to understand the outcome of each decision. You can refer to materials like academic studies, market research, or articles written by people with similar problems. You can use this research to analyze every outcome that could result from your choice.
4. Consider the outcomes
After conducting your research, think about the effects of each choice. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of each choice to determine which is the better option. You could make a list of the benefits and drawbacks of each choice, then compare the lists to determine which is the best.
5. Make a decision
Spend some time considering your list of the benefits and drawbacks of each option before making a choice. It’s crucial to take into account all available information and queries regarding all of your options before making a choice. When making a decision, it is beneficial to have a friend or coworker present so that you can get their input and support.
6. Review the outcome of your decision
Wait a while before reviewing the outcome of your choice. Consider how the choice affected you and the decision’s positive and negative effects. You can make future decisions that are more informed if you review your current choice.
Informed decision in the workplace
Here are a few ways experts in various industries use well-informed choices:
Informed decision examples
Here are some examples of informed decision-making:
Example 1
Luke is attempting to decide which college he should enroll in for the fall. He desires to make an informed decision in order to feel confident that he selected the best course of action. Luke first recognizes the problem when he realizes he is struggling to decide between Navy State University and Buckeye Hill University. He then collects information to enable him to comprehend each college better. He does this by getting in touch with the admissions offices of each college and asking them about the institution. He asks each college the following questions:
Luke then conducts research on each institution to determine the benefits and drawbacks of enrolling by reading articles written by alumni and reading online reviews from previous students. Despite the fact that many alumni think the school’s academic standing is deteriorating, he finds that Navy State College has a higher tuition rate and smaller average class size. Although classes at Buckeye Hill University cost less, they are twice as big as those at Navy States. According to Buckeye Hill University alumni, the school provides excellent academic programs that prepare students for life after college.
He seeks advice from his professors on the best college to attend. He hears from several teachers that the most crucial factor in choosing a college is the academic standing of a school. Luke weighs all of his options and decides to attend Buckeye Hill University because of their higher academic ratings.
Example 2
Marsha wants to choose the right elementary school because she wants to work there as a teacher and she wants to be well-informed about her options. Her first clue that something is wrong is the fact that she has received job offers from two different elementary schools, Green Hill Elementary School and Beaver Road Elementary School. She collects information to better comprehend the benefits and drawbacks of working at each school. To accomplish this, she contacts the principal of each school to inquire about details regarding the position. Here are the questions that she asks each principal:
She then conducts independent research by checking online reviews of each school. She discovers that although many parents felt that Green Hill Elementary’s administration wasn’t supportive of parents or staff, many parents had positive reviews about Beaver Road Elementary School. Marsha then compiles a list of benefits and drawbacks for working at each school. She will make more money at Beaver Road Elementary School, but she is not familiar with the requirements for developing lesson plans at the school. Although her pay is less at Green Hill Elementary, she is more at ease with the school’s requirements for creating lesson plans.
She consults her friends who have dealt with similar problems, and they suggest that she pick Beaver Road Elementary School so that she can learn new techniques for developing lesson plans, which might be useful when switching jobs or attempting to advance her career. She chooses to work at Beaver Road Elementary School because it will allow her to make more money and develop her skills while developing lesson plans.
Informed Decision Making Exercise
FAQ
What is an example of an informed decision?
- Identify the problem. …
- Collect data and information. …
- Brainstorm all possible alternatives. …
- Weigh the alternatives. …
- Take your pick. …
- Enact a plan. …
- Review the decision.
What’s another word for informed decision?
Making a decision to attend a particular school after researching what the school has to offer is an example of making an informed decision.
What does it mean to make informed Judgement?
This page lists 32 words that are similar to informed, including educated, told, knowledgeable, well-read, hip, versed, learned, unknowledgeable, enlightened, abreast, and aware.
Why is it important to make informed decisions?
The term “informed judgment” refers to a decision made by a person who has the capacity to make such a decision, makes it voluntarily after receiving all relevant information required to make the decision, understands that he has the freedom to choose or reject any alternative that is offered, and clearly indicates or
