Shared Decision Making in Clinical Practice

Shared Decision Making in Clinical Practice

Blog Article

Shared Decision Making (SDM), currently considered a preferred model for making decisions in healthcare, requires that patients have the knowledge and skills to actively participate in the consultation and decision-making process.Patients with limited health literacy (LHL) often fail to do so.To gain insight into the experiences, needs and support for LHL-patients concerning SDM in clinical practice, five focus groups were held with 26 patients with LHL.A focus group discussion guide was developed based on 4-steps SDM models.Data was coded using thematic content analyses.

LHL patients Car Phone/GPS Holders participating in this study had little experience with SDM in practice, but do prefer it.Important barriers for this are healthcare provider-related (involving patients too little in decision-making, using medical jargon), patient-related (feeling insecure to play a role in decision-making, inability to understand their diagnosis or information about treatment options), patient-provider interaction-related (relationship of trust) or system-related (too little consultation time).For SDM to take place more often, a shared responsibility between patients Shower Aids and healthcare providers is required.We recommend expanding the SDM models, by adding a step zero (patients understand their diagnosis) and a fifth step (reviewing the decision), to improve the process for LHL patients.