Decision-making strategies: ignored to the detriment of healthcare training and delivery?
SOURCE: Health Psychology & Behavioural Medicine
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2013
TITLE AUTHOR(S): C.Desmond, K.A.Brubaker, A.L.Ellner
KEYWORDS: DECISION MAKING, HEALTH, RISK BEHAVIOUR
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 8032
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/2682
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/2682
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2013
TITLE AUTHOR(S): C.Desmond, K.A.Brubaker, A.L.Ellner
KEYWORDS: DECISION MAKING, HEALTH, RISK BEHAVIOUR
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 8032
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/2682
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/2682
If you would like to obtain a copy of this Research Output, please contact Hanlie Baudin at researchoutputs@hsrc.ac.za.
Abstract
Context: People do not always make health-related decisions which reflect their best interest best interest being defined as the decision they would make if they carefully considered the options and fully understood the information available. A substantial literature has developed in behavioral economics and social psychology that seeks to elucidate the patterns in individual decision-making. While this is particularly relevant to healthcare, the insights from these fields have only been applied in a limited way. To address the health challenges of the twenty-first century, healthcare providers and healthcare systems designers need to more fully understand how individuals are making decisions. Methods: We provide an overview of the theories of behavioral economics and social psychology that relate to how individuals make health-related decisions. The concentration on health-related decisions leads to a focus on three topics: (1) mental shortcuts and motivated reasoning; (2) implications of time; and (3) implications of affect. The first topic is relevant because health-related decisions are often made in a hurry without a full appreciation of the implications and the deliberation they warrant. The second topic is included because the link between a decision and its health-related outcomes can involve a significant time lag. The final topic is included because health and affect are so often linked. Findings: The literature reviewed has implications for healthcare training and delivery. Selection for medical training must consider the skills necessary to understand and adapt to how patients make decisions. Training on the insights garnered from behavioral economics and social psychology would better prepare healthcare providers to effectively support their clients to lead healthy lives. Healthcare delivery should be structured to respond to the way in which decisions are made. Conclusions: These patterns in decision-making call into question basic assumptions our healthcare system makes about the best way to treat patients and deliver care. This literature has implications for the way we train physicians and deliver care.-
Related Research Outputs:
- Trends in HIV testing and associated factors among men in South Africa: evidence from 2005, 2008 and 2012 national population-based household surveys
- Preventive health behavior, personality and religiosity among black and white South Africans
- Sensation seeking and alcohol use predict HIV transmission risks: prospective study of sexually transmitted infection clinic patients, Cape Town, South Africa
- Medical circumcision and manhood initiation rituals in the Eastern Cape, South Africa: a post intervention evaluation
- Preliminary findings from a longitudinal cohort of individuals aged 50+: health risk behaviour and NCD prevalence
- Chronic diseases risk factors and access to health exams among women in South Africa
- Dual protection, contraceptive use, HIV status and risk among a national sample of South African women
- South African national HIV prevalence, incidence, behaviour and communication survey, 2008: the health of our children
- Health behaviour interventions in developing countries
- Channels of interaction in health biotechnology networks in South Africa: who benefits and how?
- Physical inactivity and associated factors in older adults in South Africa
- Alcohol use, problem drinking and health risk factors among South African youths
- Sociodemographic predictors of multiple non-communicable disease risk factors among older adults in South Africa
- Non-infectious diseases pose an economic threat to healthcare
- Stunting, overweight and obesity in the very young: two sides of the coin
- A decade of tobacco control: the South African case of politics, health policy, health promotion and behaviour change
- Subjective happiness and health behavior among a sample of university students in India
- Prevalence of health risk behaviors and their associated factors among university students in Kyrgyzstan
- Heavy internet use and its associations with health risk and health-promoting behaviours among Thai university students
- Prevalence of health behaviors and their associated factors among a sample of university students in India