Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Objective
To combine insights from multiple disciplines into a set of questions that can be used to investigate contextual factors affecting health decision making.Background
Decision-making processes and outcomes may be shaped by a range of non-medical or 'contextual' factors particular to an individual including social, economic, political, geographical and institutional conditions. Research concerning contextual factors occurs across many disciplines and theoretical domains, but few conceptual tools have attempted to integrate and translate this wide-ranging research for health decision-making purposes.Methods
To formulate this tool we employed an iterative, collaborative process of scenario development and question generation. Five hypothetical health decision-making scenarios (preventative, screening, curative, supportive and palliative) were developed and used to generate a set of exploratory questions that aim to highlight potential contextual factors across a range of health decisions.Findings
We present an exploratory tool consisting of questions organized into four thematic domains - Bodies, Technologies, Place and Work (BTPW) - articulating wide-ranging contextual factors relevant to health decision making. The BTPW tool encompasses health-related scholarship and research from a range of disciplines pertinent to health decision making, and identifies concrete points of intersection between its four thematic domains. Examples of the practical application of the questions are also provided.Conclusions
These exploratory questions provide an interdisciplinary toolkit for identifying the complex contextual factors affecting decision making. The set of questions comprised by the BTPW tool may be applied wholly or partially in the context of clinical practice, policy development and health-related research.
SUBMITTER: Charise A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5060568 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Charise Andrea A Witteman Holly H Whyte Sarah S Sutton Erica J EJ Bender Jacqueline L JL Massimi Michael M Stephens Lindsay L Evans Joshua J Logie Carmen C Mirza Raza M RM Elf Marie M
Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy 20101028 2
<h4>Objective</h4>To combine insights from multiple disciplines into a set of questions that can be used to investigate contextual factors affecting health decision making.<h4>Background</h4>Decision-making processes and outcomes may be shaped by a range of non-medical or 'contextual' factors particular to an individual including social, economic, political, geographical and institutional conditions. Research concerning contextual factors occurs across many disciplines and theoretical domains, b ...[more]