A Web-Enabled Authoring Tool for Communicating Medical Risks

"Research on framing suggests that an individual's decisions about medical treatments can be affected by whether the information about the impacts of alternative treatments are framed positively (in terms of benefits) or negatively (in terms of risks). Thegoal of this project is to develop a web-enabled authoring tool for communicating medical risks that advises clinicians on how risk information should be framed and how the information should be presented so individuals can make treatment decisions thataccurately reflect the objective data about risks and are consistent with their own values. In Phase I we will review the research literature on framing and information presentation and develop an experiment plan to conduct research on unresolved issues.We will also develop the requirements and an initial prototype for the authoring tool based on our literature review. In Phase II we will carry out the research program designed in Phase I, and apply the results to the development of the authoring tool.We will test the authoring tool using a range of use cases to insure that it is usable by clinicians and that the risk information that is developed is complete and comprehensible to patients. The value of this work is that it will allow authors tocommunicate information about risks in a way that is clear and comprehensible, and that allows individuals to make decisions that are in accordance with the objective data and with which the