Section D
Treatment & Care Decisions
Weighing benefits, harms and alternatives.
Goals of Treatment
Treatment can aim to cure disease, control its course, relieve symptoms or improve everyday function, often with more than one goal.
D02Shared Decision-Making
Shared decision-making combines clinical evidence with a person's priorities, circumstances and preferred role in decisions.
D03Benefits, Harms and Alternatives
Comparing treatment options involves considering meaningful benefits, possible harms, uncertainty and the consequences of each reasonable alternative.
D04How Medicines Work
Medicines act through different biological processes, and their effects depend on their targets, distribution and the condition being treated.
D05Dose, Exposure and Response
The amount of medicine given influences exposure, but the resulting benefits and adverse effects also depend on how the body handles and responds to it.
D06Side Effects and Adverse Events
An adverse event happens during treatment, while attributing an effect to treatment requires an assessment of whether the treatment caused it.
D07Medicine Interactions
Medicines can interact by changing each other's exposure or effects, making an accurate review of all relevant substances important.
D08Surgery and Procedures
Surgery and other procedures have different goals, risks and recovery demands that form part of an informed care decision.
D09Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation supports everyday function by helping people regain abilities, maintain them or adapt to lasting changes.
D10Supportive and Palliative Care
Supportive and palliative care address symptoms and quality of life and can accompany treatment directed at the underlying illness.
D11Monitoring Treatment Response
Monitoring brings together symptoms, everyday function, clinical findings and tests to assess treatment benefits and harms over time.
D12Treatment Burden and Adherence
Treatment can create substantial practical work, and difficulties following an agreed plan are best understood without blame.
D13Second Opinions and Reconsidering Options
An additional clinical review can help clarify a diagnosis, treatment choices or uncertainty, while reconsideration keeps decisions aligned with changing circumstances.