Patient decision aids

Abstract Healthcare providers and patients need guidance to reach a shared understanding of what medicine has to offer. However, current tools to provide this guidance—clinical practice guidelines and decision aids alike—face significant challenges. Their production is time-consuming and resource demanding and they are often outdated due to rapidly emerging medical knowledge. Both rigorous methods for their development and regular updates are critical to ensure their trustworthiness. Collaborative efforts among stakeholders, including researchers, healthcare institutions, and policymakers, are vital to overcoming these challenges in a sustainable way. While technology, including artificial intelligence, offers potential improvements, it also introduces ethical and equity concerns. Achieving sustainability and accessibility of tools for decision making requires a holistic approach, emphasizing regulatory frameworks and collaborative, patient-centred governance to ensure equitable distribution of benefits and knowledge.