Assessment of patients' and caregivers' informational and decisional needs for left ventricular assist device placement: Implications for informed consent and shared decision-making

Informed consent and shared-decision making should: (a) help patients offered highly invasive technologies for life-threatening disease get past the initial “anything to avoid thinking about death” reaction and make a more informed decision; (b) clarify transplant status; and (c) focus on lifestyle and technical issues, as patients have the most informational needs in these domains.