Silvia Riva|Marco Monti|Paola Iannello|Alessandro Antonietti
The Representation of Risk in Routine Medical Experience: What Actions for Contemporary Health Policy?
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore|Università della Svizzera italiana|Max Planck Institute for Human Development|Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore|Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
comprehension appropriate information illnesses treatments beneficial effects patients satisfaction important health outcomes however questionable whether people able understand risk properlyto describe patients representation risk common medical experiences linking representation concept trust goal test whether representation risk medical domain associated level expertise third goal verify whether sociodemographic differences influence representation riskeighty voluntary participants 6 healthcenters northern italy enrolled conduct semistructured interview included demographic questions termassociations risk representation closed open questions attitudes perception risk medical context well medical expertise trustthe results showed people mind scientific definition risk medicine risk seen synonym surgery disease often confused fear however general knowledge medical matters helps people better health management risk identification risk information adoption careful behaviors tendency critical view safety medical news finally trust proved important variable risk representation risk trust correlated positivelypeople must receive appropriate information risks benefits treatment form understand apply circumstances moreover contemporary health policy empower patients adopt active selfcare attitude methodologies enhance peoples decisionmaking outcomes based better risk communication improved order enable low literacy population well elderly people better understand treatment associated risk