title: Combining deliberation and intuition in patient decision support.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the strengths and weaknesses of deliberative and intuitive processes in the context of patient decision support and to discuss implications for decision aid (DA) design.
  
  
  METHODS
  Conceptual review of the strengths and weaknesses of intuitive and analytical decision making and applying these findings to the practice of DA design.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DAs combine several important goals: providing information, helping to clarify treatment related values, supporting preference construction processes, and facilitating more active engagement in decision making. Many DAs encourage patients to approach a decision analytically, without solid theoretical or empirical grounding for this approach. Existing research in other domains suggests that both intuition and deliberation may support decision making. We discuss implications for patient decision support and challenge researchers to determine when combining these processes leads to better outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intuitive and analytical decision processes may have complementary effects in achieving the desired outcomes of patient decision support.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DA developers should be aware that tools solely targeted at supporting deliberation may limit DA effectiveness and harm preference construction processes. Patients may be better served by combined strategies that draw on the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of both deliberative and intuitive processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands. MariekedeVries@TilburgUniversity.edu
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Vries
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fagerlin
authors.forename: Holly O
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Witteman
authors.forename: Laura D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Scherer
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D006801:Humans; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000523:psychology