A Person-Centred Approach to Communicating Risk

Doctors and other health professionals play a key role in communicating risk information. They are advisers to patients, especially when patients have to make fateful decisions that can irrevocably change their lives. There is a developing body of literature on the ways in which risk information can be effectively communicated [1,2]. However, much of this literature focuses on the nature of risk information and ways in which the transfer of this information can be improved. It does not fully take into account the complexity of the real world of clinical practice, nor the importance of considering patients as active partners in communication.