Helping financially vulnerable individuals make more judicious medical decisions

Given the increasing practice of patient engagement in joint medical decision-making, this project focuses on how patients’ financial constraints affect their decision-making about medical treatments, namely preference between an aggressive treatment and a conservative treatment. Ironically, it is the financially constrained patients who are more likely to opt for an aggressive treatment, which is typically more resource intensive with higher risks, but not necessarily more beneficial. This research aims to examine the psychological biases involved in a treatment decision and to help financially vulnerable individuals make more judicious medical decisions. The research also aims to understand why financially vulnerable populations tend to opt for aggressive treatments.

Prior research has shown that physicians play important roles in the decision-making of medical treatment. However, little is known about how patient-related factors may contribute to this decision-making process. This project will examine how a patient’s financial constraints might affect his/her perceptions about a health problem and the subsequent preference for alternative treatment options.

Theoretically, this project is expected to shed light on the links between patients’ financial constraints, their cognitive appraisals (risk perceptions, self-efficacy) of a health problem, need for cognitive closure, and consideration of trade-offs between potency and risk of a medical treatment option. Pragmatically, it is envisioned to help patients make more judicious medical decisions and promote public health and well-being by providing insights into how financially vulnerable people make treatment decisions and suggesting useful interventions for practitioners and policy makers.