Use of Forum Theatre in Service Design and Patient Decision Aids
What is the problem
This project focuses on addressing challenges associated with shared decision-making in maternity care, particularly when discussing the management of large-for-gestational-age (LGA) babies. These are complex and emotionally charged decisions that involve understanding multiple birth options and weighing the risks of each. Often, patients are overwhelmed by information or feel unable to make informed choices due to limited consultation time or difficulty understanding medical terminology. These barriers can lead to misunderstandings, poor experiences of care, and decisions that may not align with the patient’s values or preferences.
What we will do
This project has three stages.
- We will work with healthcare professionals and patient partners to develop realistic clinical scenarios where decision-making feels particularly difficult—for example, deciding between induction of labour and planned caesarean section for an LGA baby. These scenarios will be transformed into short scripts.
- We will work with professional actors and the Performing Medicine Arts team to bring these scripts to life using forum theatre. Performances will be interactive: audience members, including clinicians, patients, and service users, will be able to stop the action, ask questions, or step into roles to explore different ways of communicating or making decisions.
- We will collect feedback using a structured rubric to evaluate the clarity and usefulness of the information shared during the performance, and whether audience interventions helped improve understanding or decision quality.
This project aims to improve communication and develop better tools for supporting decision-making. By using theatre to simulate and refine real conversations, we hope to reduce information overload, increase health literacy, and help patients feel more confident and supported in making choices that are right for them