Tinnitus care decision aid

Helping clinicians and patients work together to choose the right tinnitus treatment option

The tinnitus decision aid is designed to help clinicians and patients work together to choose the right treatment option for each individual. 

People with tinnitus vary in their preferences, for example, some like to use sound, others prefer a talking therapy approach. Our decision aid provides information on key points that patients need to know to make a decision. 

How was it developed? 

The decision aid was developed through a systematic process of reviewing evidence, gathering key questions from patients and refining the information to be readable and useable. 

All the approaches listed are available everywhere but may require some travel or cost to access them. This should be discussed in consultations. 

What is the purpose of decision aid? 

The decision aid is designed to be posted to people referred into a ‘tinnitus clinic’ in advance of seeing a clinician, but it’s a good idea to have copies to hand during the clinical consultation. You can download a printable version from this page, and laminated versions to have on hand in the clinic are available from the Tinnitus UK free of charge by calling 0114 250 9933 or emailing info@tinnitus.org.uk – please note these will be branded British Tinnitus Association until supplies run out. 

To really engage in shared decision-making clinicians need to focus on listening hard to the preferences and values expressed by patients. This requires listening skills. Further help to develop these is available in counselling and communication or Hearing Therapy training routes. We have produced some videos to illustrate how to use the decision aid and these are below. 

These videos show the ‘team talk’, ‘option talk’ and ‘decision talk’ phases of the clinical encounter and the skills required by clinicians at each stage (Elwyn et al, 1999;2003). 

Elwyn G, Edwards A and Kinnersley P. Shared decision-making in primary care: the neglected second half of the consultation.British Journal of General Practice, (1999) 49(443), pp.477-482. 

Elwyn G, Edwards A and Britten N.2003. “Doing prescribing”: how doctors can be more effective.BMJ: British Medical Journal (2003), pp.864-867.