How can I effectively communicate the risks and benefits of a treatment to ensure that my patient understands and consents?

Effectively communicating the risks and benefits of a treatment to ensure patient understanding and informed consent involves several key steps:

• Personalise the information: Tailor the discussion of risks, benefits, and consequences to the individual patient's life, values, and what matters to them, making clear how the information applies personally and acknowledging any uncertainties ¹.
• Use clear, consistent numerical data: Present risks using absolute risks rather than relative risks, natural frequencies (e.g., 10 in 100) instead of percentages, and maintain consistent denominators when comparing risks ¹.
• Employ multiple formats and visual aids: Support verbal explanations with patient decision aids, pictographs, or icon arrays to help patients see both positive and negative framing simultaneously (e.g., treatment success and failure rates) ¹.
• Chunk information and check understanding: Break down information into manageable parts and use techniques like teach back, where patients explain back what they have understood, to confirm comprehension before proceeding ¹.
• Discuss risks and benefits in context: Frame risks over a defined time period relevant to the patient and discuss both positive and negative outcomes to provide balanced information ¹.
• Address patient concerns and preferences: Invite questions, explore worries, and adapt communication to the patient’s needs, including their desire for the amount of information and preferred communication methods ¹,².
• For children and young people: Adapt explanations to their developmental stage, involve parents or carers as appropriate, and ensure ongoing confirmation of understanding and consent or assent ².

Following these steps supports shared decision making, empowering patients to make informed, values-based decisions about their care ¹.