Background Informed consent (IC) is regarded as a cornerstone of ethical healthcare research and is a requirement for most clinical research studies [1]. Guidelines suggest that prospective clinical trial participants should understand a basic amount of information about trials in order to provide valid IC. However, poor participant understanding of the research processes, a lack of knowledge about the expectations and demands of trials and insufficient support when faced with the decision has been demonstrated across a range of clinical areas [2,3]. As such, the existing approach to obtaining IC for clinical trials is not optimal. Therefore, it is important to investigate the effectiveness of the current consent process to examine how well existing PILs conform to empirically developed standards for promoting high quality decisions. We propose that the process could be improved by drawing on existing research in the fields of decision making and decision support interventions.