Living longer
How important is more time, and what would make that time worthwhile?
What matters
Values are the part of a healthcare decision that evidence cannot choose for you.
A preference-sensitive decision combines clinical facts with what the person is trying to protect, tolerate, avoid, accomplish, or remain able to do. Those priorities can change from one decision to the next.
A vocabulary
Different things can matter at the same time
Use these as prompts. Nothing here is scored or ranked. Expect to weigh them differently for a screening choice than for surgery, chronic care, pregnancy, mental health, or serious illness.
Symptoms & comfort
Which symptoms or burdens matter most to reduce or avoid?
Function & participation
What activities, roles, or ways of participating in life matter most?
Thinking clearly
How important are alertness, memory, concentration, or ability to communicate?
Independence, support & place
What kind of help is acceptable, and where would you prefer care or recovery to happen?
Time
How do appointments, recovery, waiting, or treatment time affect the choice?
Treatment burden
What level of monitoring, procedures, travel, or daily treatment feels manageable?
Work, school & responsibilities
What responsibilities or routines need to remain possible?
Caring for others
Who depends on you, and how does that shape what is feasible?
Family & relationships
Who should be involved, and which relationships or family roles matter here?
Cost & financial strain
What out-of-pocket cost, time away from work, or financial uncertainty matters?
Fertility & sexual health
Could fertility, pregnancy goals, sexual function, or body changes affect this decision?
Privacy, voice & autonomy
How do you want information shared, and how much control or support do you want in the decision?
Faith, culture, ethics or worldview
Is there a belief, practice, community, ethical commitment, or philosophy you want considered?
Risk & uncertainty
How do you feel about uncertainty, rare harms, waiting, or the chance that a treatment may not help?
Language & being understood
In what language do you want complex conversations, and what would help you understand and be understood?
Meaning & what you leave behind
What gives this time meaning, and is there anything you want to record, finish, or pass on?
Four useful lenses
Move from a value to a decision-ready question
What outcome am I hoping for?
Say what the benefit would mean in ordinary life: feeling better, staying active, more time, keeping the option of children, working, sleeping, caring for someone.
What burden am I willing to carry?
Treatment time, side effects, monitoring, recovery, uncertainty, cost, travel, loss of privacy, dependence on others, or disruption of responsibilities may matter differently to different people.
What context changes what is feasible?
Family, work, school, caregiving, getting there, language, money, faith, and support at home all change which options fit.
What do I still need to know?
Values do not replace the facts. Ask about benefits, harms, alternatives, the odds, recovery, and what happens if you wait.
When values, facts, or people pull in different directions
Disagreement may be about the medical facts, the meaning of a risk, who has authority, past harm, feasibility, or a real values tradeoff. Different problems, worth keeping apart.
- Name the decision and whether it must be made now.
- Separate facts from preferences: what is known, uncertain, assumed, hoped for, or feared?
- Center the person's voice, capacity, desired role, and chosen support people.
- Ask what value sits underneath each position rather than treating disagreement as irrationality.
- Ask for the support you need for the issue: clinical expertise, interpreter services, social work, ethics, disability accommodations, mental-health support, spiritual care, or a community adviser chosen by the person.
- Leave room to revisit when new facts, outcomes, or priorities change the decision.
Continue with the layer you need
Save what matters →Decision Guide →Communication & shared decisions →Faith & worldview context →Research standard →
Educational values clarification and conversation support only. This page does not provide medical, legal, or religious advice and does not convert a person's selections into a treatment recommendation.