Engaging patient partners in state-of-the-art allergy care: Finding balance when discussing risk

To review risk communication in the context of shared decision making.

Articles describing risk communication, shared decision making, and cost-effective healthcare delivery.

A narrative review detailing approaches to improve risk communication and shared decision making to optimize patient-centered cost-effective practice.

Risk communication must occur on a foundation of mutual trust and can be improved by keeping risk in perspective of everyday hazards, such as using pictograms when possible, providing numeric likelihoods of risks and benefits, and discussing absolute risks. Variability in patient-perceived quality of life for allergic and nonallergic health states may affect the health and economic outcomes of many allergy therapies. Shared decision making improves patient knowledge and risk perception, engagement, and adherence. Patient decision aids can be time-consuming to develop and validate, but their use is associated with a more accurate understanding of patient-oriented outcomes.

Communicating risk is complex, and validated patient decision aids using visual aids, presenting essential information, using knowledge checks, and incorporating values clarification can reduce decisional conflict and improve decisional self-efficacy.