Society for Medical Decision Making

Monday 11 June 2018

09:45 - 10:45
Stadsgehoorzaal - Aalmarktzaal Room, Level 2

Communicating the Potential Benefits and Harms of Treatments in an Impartial Way

There is increasing acceptance that medical interventions should be the result of an informed choice, which requires that potential benefits and harms need to be discussed in a way appropriate to a patient’s wishes and needs.  This is reflected in the current UK breast screening information leaflets, which encourage women to weigh up the pros and cons of screening.  I shall look at the process by which these were developed, emphasising the role of a “citizens’ jury”.

After a diagnosis of breast cancer, prognostic calculators may be used in discussing possible adjuvant therapies.  I shall describe how a new front-end to the PREDICT program has been developed using the principles of user-centred design, in which both medical professionals and patients contribute to both appearance and functionality.  Finally, I shall look at the general challenges of communication in an era of increasingly personalised medicine, when there may be substantial uncertainty about the magnitudes of the potential harms and benefits.

Biography:
David Spiegelhalter is Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk and Fellow of Churchill College at Cambridge University, and as Chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, he works to improve the way in which risk and statistical evidence are taught and discussed in society. He gives many presentations to schools and others, advises organisations on risk communication, and is a regular commentator on risk issues.   He presented the BBC4 documentaries ‘Tails you Win: the Science of Chance’ and the award-winning ‘Climate Change by Numbers’. He was elected FRS in 2005, awarded an OBE in 2006, and was knighted in 2014 for services to medical statistics. For 2017-2018 he is President of the Royal Statistical Society. In 2011, he finished 7th in an episode of Winter Wipeout. Dr. Spiegelhalter was the recipient of the 2006 SMDM Career Achievement Award.