Research in patient and family decision making regarding life sustaining and long term care.

Involving patients in making decisions about their medical treatment and health care is a widely accepted goal. Yet there is considerable debate about what constitutes effective involvement, how much involvement is desirable, what are the benefits of involvement and how practitioners can help patients recognize and communicate their own preferences. Recent research on patient and family decision making processes provide some answers to these questions. These studies also point to key areas for future research on these issues.