Decision support for assessing patient preferences for geriatric care

This paper describes a pilot study that tested the strategy and feasibility of a decision support system (DSS) that assists nurses in integrating patients' preferences for self-care functions in the assessment of elderly patients. 12 elderly clients and a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) participated in this study. The CNS reported the assessment strategy to be very helpful to learn about patients' strengths and weaknesses in self-care functioning. Clients reported that being asked about their preferences helped them clarify their goals, and created a shared understanding between nurse and patient. This pilot study also suggests that patients have a clear understanding of their predominant problems and can discriminate between their preferences. It further supports previous literature that there is a substantial difference in values patients place on clinical outcomes. This highlights the importance of an individual approach to patient care and the usefulness of DSS to assist nurses in eliciting patient preferences.