The result of work conducted by Montserrat Busquets and Jordi Caïs, looking at the current state of health information and the participation of health service users in clinical decisions.The aim was to identify how satisfactory the information received by patients and those around them is, with regard both to their condition and the options for participating in the decision-making process related to the illness. The authors gave a presentation of their interview-based research and the conclusions they drew from it. The presentation was followed by a wide-ranging discussion of the issues involved, and the monograph reproduces both the original research and the contributions to the discussion from the audience of invited experts.