ROS welcomes new shared decision making guidance from NICE

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a new guideline on shared decision making, recognising the importance of involving people in decisions about their treatment and care.

Shared decision making is a collaborative process that involves a person and their healthcare professional working together to reach a joint decision about care. The new recommendations advise that this should be part of everyday practice across all healthcare settings.

Prof Gillian Leng, NICE chief executive, says:

“We’re delighted to see this shared decision-making guideline published and we hope it will help people using healthcare services feel more confident in discussing care and treatment options with their healthcare teams. These recommendations should help healthcare professionals to embed good practice in all their interactions with the people they are caring for and at an organisational level.”

Sarah Leyland, specialist nurse and clinical adviser at the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS) says:

“Many people contact our Helpline because they want information to have an informed discussion with their healthcare professional, especially about drug treatments for osteoporosis. We welcome this advice from NICE promoting shared decision making and providing the details to help healthcare professionals put it into practice.

“We know that shared decision making is a top priority for people living with osteoporosis, which is why we are supporting the IFraP project through our Osteoporosis and Bone Research Academy.  This project will develop an easy to use decision support tool that is specific to osteoporosis, with input from people living with the condition and healthcare professionals.”

Dr Zoe Paskins, Reader in Rheumatology and Consultant Rheumatologist at Keele University who is leading the IFraP project, says:

“The IFraP study aims to help clinicians translate scientific information to patients in an understandable way and to help clinicians support patents to make informed decisions. This is underpinned by the principles of shared decision making. I’m therefore delighted this NICE guideline has been published, which is long overdue, and really emphasises the importance and potential benefits of shared decision making.

“We are currently testing our decision support tool and look forward to launching it with the results of the research project over the next two years.”

Read more about the new shared decision making guideline from NICE or find out more about our research projects.