Paling Palettes were designed to address the needs of hospitals and clinics where, although the general public rarely understands it, most risks that a patient encounters are massively more likely that the “worries of the week and the molecules of the moment” that the public hears about in the non-healthcare arena.
The concept and designs of Paling Palettes seem blindingly obvious now but were in fact developed and tested in a series of progressive improvements as we tried to adapt the Paling Perspective Scales for healthcare. The resulting Palette designs have been tested with real patients in genetic counseling scenarios and the results were outstandingly positive. Patients unanimously stated that they rated the palettes over all other ways that we attempted to communicate risks.
The Paling Palette offers so many benefits for doctors that we strongly believe that it should be kept on hand for most informed consents.
Doctors who use Palettes are improving the chances of their patients understanding their risks as well as deepening the bond of partnering with their patients.
Paling Palettes achieve the following benefits:
Much more information is available in the book Medics are From Mars and Patients are From Pluto. How to help patients understand risks.
Here are some Paling Palettes in use in healthcare care contexts
People can download blank, template versions of these scales for their own purposes.
Palette One
Palette Two