National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
TITLE
Shared Decision Making (NICE Guideline NG197)
Published June 2021
SOURCE
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng197
REFERENCE
4
NICE
REFERENCE
123
organisation
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
TITLE
Shared Decision Making (NICE Guideline NG197)
Published June 2021
SOURCE
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng197
DISC COMMENTARY
NG197 sets out how health and care organisations should build shared decision making into everyday practice. It covers involving patients as genuine partners in decisions about their own treatment and care, rather than presenting decisions as already made.
What was studied?
As a guideline rather than a single study, it sets expectations for practice: using quality-assured information, checking patients have understood what was discussed, presenting risk clearly with plain figures, and recording preferences alongside the clinical plan.
What did they find?
It recommends presenting risk using plain, absolute figures rather than confusing relative ones, tailored to each person's circumstances. It also asks practitioners to summarise and check back with patients to confirm real understanding before any decision is finalised.
Why it matters
Shared decision making is linked to people feeling more confident about their care and choosing options that better match their own values. This matters most where there is more than one reasonable way forward.
Why we included it
It reflects a broader shift in good care: patients weighing options like manual therapy, decompression, laser therapy or rehabilitation against their own goals, rather than simply being told what to do.
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What was studied?
As a guideline rather than a single study, it sets expectations for practice: using quality-assured information, checking patients have understood what was discussed, presenting risk clearly with plain figures, and recording preferences alongside the clinical plan.
What did they find?
It recommends presenting risk using plain, absolute figures rather than confusing relative ones, tailored to each person's circumstances. It also asks practitioners to summarise and check back with patients to confirm real understanding before any decision is finalised.
Why it matters
Shared decision making is linked to people feeling more confident about their care and choosing options that better match their own values. This matters most where there is more than one reasonable way forward.
Why we included it
It reflects a broader shift in good care: patients weighing options like manual therapy, decompression, laser therapy or rehabilitation against their own goals, rather than simply being told what to do.