Shared Decision-Making in Patient-Centered Care
Summary
Shared decision-making (SDM) is an interactive process through which clinicians and patients collaborate to make health-care decisions that align with clinical evidence and individual values. Rooted in patient-centred care principles, SDM shifts the traditional paternalistic model towards a partnership, ensuring that patients are informed about options, risks and benefits, and are supported in articulating their preferences. This approach enhances autonomy, promotes tailored treatment plans and fosters adherence. Over the past two decades, research has demonstrated that SDM can improve patient satisfaction, reduce decisional regret and optimise resource utilisation. Frameworks for SDM typically encompass an initial ‘choice talk’, an ‘option talk’ that outlines evidence-based interventions, and a ‘decision talk’ during which patient values guide the final selection. Global adoption has been stimulated by policy endorsements, integration into clinical guidelines and the development of decision support tools. SDM’s practical applications range from routine chronic disease management to high-stakes screenings and surgical interventions, underscoring its significance across health-care settings.
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Shared Decision-Making in Patient-Centered Care publication trend
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Technical terms
Shared decision-making: A collaborative process in which health-care professionals and patients jointly make treatment decisions based on evidence and patient preferences.
Patient decision aid: An evidence-based tool designed to inform patients of options, potential outcomes and support deliberation in SDM.
Decisional conflict: A state of uncertainty about which course of action to take due to unclear values or insufficient information.
Values clarification: Methods to help patients reflect on and articulate the relative importance of benefits, risks and personal priorities in health decisions.
References
- Cardiovascular disease risk communication and prevention: a meta-analysis. European Heart Journal (2024).
- Shared Decision Making: A Model for Clinical Practice. Journal of General Internal Medicine (2012).
- Organizational- and system-level characteristics that influence implementation of shared decision-making and strategies to address them — a scoping review. Implementation Science (2018).
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