Informed Consent and Shared Decision Making -- Modern Myths of Medicine?

The roles of the consumer using health or wellness offers, of the patient within health care systems, & of the citizen in a welfare state intersect. According to Kickbusch these roles are changing when the 'health system' is restructured. It is trivial to realize that consumers make ec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soziale Welt 2008-01, Vol.59 (4), p.397-411
Main Author: Stollberg, Gunnar
Format: Article
Language:ger
Subjects:
Health Care Services
Informed Consent
Medical Decision Making
Patients
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The roles of the consumer using health or wellness offers, of the patient within health care systems, & of the citizen in a welfare state intersect. According to Kickbusch these roles are changing when the 'health system' is restructured. It is trivial to realize that consumers make economic decisions, & citizens make political decisions, which are decisions that aren't based on science. For the patient however it does appear trivial. Nevertheless structural changes of the health system imply the expectation that patients at least become involved in the decisions to be made. This expectation seems to mix characteristics of the medical & the political systems together. Defining society as a health society demands patients to participate & to decide in a way that they cannot meet directly, but have to become empowered for. I will introduce the concept of 'shared decision making' as a myth, as a practicable scheme offering a promise (cf. Vogd/Saake): an uncertain situation cannot directly be solved by a medical definition & intervention, but becomes less uncertain acknowledging participation. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:0038-6073