Intuition and Deliberation in Decisions about...
There has been a strong movement in health care towards the development of decision aids that foster deliberation - slow and careful consideration and discussion. We know little, however, about the use and relative merits of intuitive (instinct-based) and deliberative thinking in decisions regarding life-sustaining medical interventions. This research project among seriously ill, hospitalized patients at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania will determine whether there are systematic differences between the decisions patients make intuitively versus deliberately about life-sustaining medical interventions. We will also evaluate how decisions about life-sustaining treatments reached intuitively and those reached deliberately map with the stated underlying values of the patient.
Roybal Center on Behavioral Economics and Health, National Institute on Aging