User:Ruth Wittmann-Price/Emancipated Decision-making

Emancipated Decision-making is

Emancipated decision-making is a theoretical concept that upholds patient-centered decision-making about health care issues. It was developed by Ruth Wittmann-Price, PhD, RN in 2006 to describe how women make decisions about health care issues in today's society. Current decision-making frameworks and research about women’s health care options have developed within the social norms of the established health care system. The health care system in the United States was developed with strong paternalistic influences and still fosters oppression towards women. Decisional science has not addressed the impact of underlying oppressive social norms and how they may affect women who are making health care choices.

Emancipated decision-making (EDM) addresses that women are prone to the influence of social norms and at times feel pressured to choose the option that she feels society sanctions as "the best" even though it does not suit her personally. To make an emancipated decision the women must be aware of the social norms surrounding the options, have a flexible environment in which to make her decision and use her personal knowledge.

The best applications of this theory are time-sensitive issues in women’s health care that require a decision among different options that are all feasible. The feminist lens is needed in order to reduce the decisional hazards produced by current social norms. An EDM process has been shown to produce satisfaction with the decision, based on three clinical studies. The assumption is that if women are more satisfied with their decision, decisional follow-through will be better and less health care options will be used in the long run.

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