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All older people should have the opportunity to engage in primary care discussions about their health goals and the benefits and risks of interventions to make high-quality health decisions. Annual health assessments provide a chance for this, but shared decisions are difficult to achieve. I will develop interventions to enable older people to engage in discussions about their health in primary care.
I hope to broaden my horizons during my College for Life Sciences fellowship, particularly to explore the intersections of ageism, reducing overdiagnosis and overtreatment, health literacy, and equity, in the context of an increasingly digitalised health system. I will meet with academics, research groups, and clinicians to understand current efforts to implement shared decision making for older people in the German health system, as well as review the literature. This will enable me to form a comprehensive foundation of knowledge through reflection and discussions, gain creative insights I would otherwise miss out on, and ultimately strengthen my international impact in my first independent research program.
Recommended Reading
Smith, Jenna, Rachael H. Dodd, Karen M. Gainey, et al. (2021). “Patient-Reported Factors Associated with Older Adults’ Cancer Screening Decision-Making: A Systematic Review.” JAMA Network Open 4 (11): e2133406. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.33406.
Smith, Jenna, Erin Cvejic, Nehmat Houssami, et al. (2024). “Randomized Trial of Information for Older Women about Cessation of Breast Cancer Screening Invitations.” Journal of General Internal Medicine 39: 1332–1341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-024-08656-3.
Smith, Jenna, Rachael H. Dodd, Katharine A. Wallis, et al. (2024). “General Practitioners’ Views and Experiences of Communicating with Older People about Cancer Screening: A Qualitative Study.” Family Practice 41 (4): 543–553. https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmac126.

© privat
2025/2026
Jenna Smith, PhD
Medicine and Health
Universität Sydney
from September 2025 to January 2026
Born in 1995 in Nowra, New South Wales, Australia
BSc (Honours in Psychology) and PhD in Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney
Fellowship
College for Life Sciences
Arbeitsvorhaben
Implementing Equitable Shared Decision Making for Older People in Primary Care
During my current fellowship at the Sydney Health Literacy Lab (The University of Sydney), I aim to implement shared decision making for older women in the national breast cancer screening program (i.e., through improved messaging and decision support tools). During my time at the Wissenschaftskolleg, I will be expanding this program of work to broadly think about how equitable shared decision making can be implemented in primary care health assessments for older people.All older people should have the opportunity to engage in primary care discussions about their health goals and the benefits and risks of interventions to make high-quality health decisions. Annual health assessments provide a chance for this, but shared decisions are difficult to achieve. I will develop interventions to enable older people to engage in discussions about their health in primary care.
I hope to broaden my horizons during my College for Life Sciences fellowship, particularly to explore the intersections of ageism, reducing overdiagnosis and overtreatment, health literacy, and equity, in the context of an increasingly digitalised health system. I will meet with academics, research groups, and clinicians to understand current efforts to implement shared decision making for older people in the German health system, as well as review the literature. This will enable me to form a comprehensive foundation of knowledge through reflection and discussions, gain creative insights I would otherwise miss out on, and ultimately strengthen my international impact in my first independent research program.
Recommended Reading
Smith, Jenna, Rachael H. Dodd, Karen M. Gainey, et al. (2021). “Patient-Reported Factors Associated with Older Adults’ Cancer Screening Decision-Making: A Systematic Review.” JAMA Network Open 4 (11): e2133406. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.33406.
Smith, Jenna, Erin Cvejic, Nehmat Houssami, et al. (2024). “Randomized Trial of Information for Older Women about Cessation of Breast Cancer Screening Invitations.” Journal of General Internal Medicine 39: 1332–1341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-024-08656-3.
Smith, Jenna, Rachael H. Dodd, Katharine A. Wallis, et al. (2024). “General Practitioners’ Views and Experiences of Communicating with Older People about Cancer Screening: A Qualitative Study.” Family Practice 41 (4): 543–553. https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmac126.