Models, phases and cases of patient participation in decision-making in surgical treatment in Norway: a qualitative...

This study improves our understanding of patients' participation in hospital treatment-decision processes. We explored the degree of patient participation perceived by both patients and healthcare professionals in four phases of the decision process: information dissemination, formulation of options, integration of information, and control within four models of interactions between healthcare professionals and patients: the paternalistic model, the shared model, the informed model, and the non-paternalistic model. The analysis was based on 18 in-depth, exploratory interviews with patients and healthcare professionals in six surgical units in Norway. Knowledge about how patients and healthcare professionals interact in the surgical-decision process is important for developing systems and arenas for patient participation in practice, and for a climate and culture to further support the implementation.