Welcome to the century of the patient

The 21st century should become the century of the patient, according to Gerd Gigerenzer, director of the Centre for Adaptive Behaviour and Cognition in Berlin and one of the participants in a BMJ discussion group last month. But how do we make it so? What new skills and what shifts in attitudes do both patients and health professionals need? The Salzburg statement on shared decision making lists various actions in its call for patients and clinicians to work together to be coproducers of health (BMJ 2011;342:d1745, doi: 10.1136/bmj.d1745). The statement, which arose from a meeting of the Salzburg Global Seminar last December, provided the springboard for the BMJ round table discussion, chaired by BMJ editor in chief, Fiona Godlee. The discussion broke into three sections: the first looked at the history of shared decision making and the current situation both in the UK and elsewhere; the second looked at a vision of the future and the barriers to getting there; and the third considered the information needs of patients and doctors.