Jon C. Tilburt, M.D.

Dr. Tilburt's research projects identify barriers and promoters to shared-decision making — especially in cross-cultural settings — by calling attention to the interconnected sets of beliefs and values that patients and providers (so called, "worldviews") bring to the clinical encounter.

His team is:

• Conducting a systematic review of psychosocial factors that influence doctor and patient interpretation of risk information in prostate cancer.
• Defining in greater detail how PSA testing is used in the care of prostate cancer survivors after definitive therapy, using data from Olmsted County, Minn.
• Developing methods to measure the patient experience in cancer care. In one study we are examining the quality of follow up care among American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) men with elevated PSA in order to ascertain individual and health system factors that may affect potential disparities in care for AI/AN men with prostate cancer.

These studies will help improve the process of shared decision-making in prostate cancer and other chronic diseases in a manner that is robustly patient-centered (i.e., responsive to the deepest hopes, fears, beliefs, and values of patients) and evidence-based.

Dr. Tilburt is a member of the Cancer Center at Mayo Clinic; and directs the Health Care Delivery Research (HEDER) Scholars Program within the Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery.