[Providing insight into the construct decisional conflict and its usability to assess shared decision making]

The increased attention for shared decision making (sdm) in mental health care creates a need to evaluate its application. The construct decisional conflict, which refers to the satisfaction of patients regarding both the decision making process and the decisions made, could be of added value.
AIM: Clarifying decisional conflict and reflecting on its feasibility to evaluate sdm in mental health care.
METHOD: A literature study exploring the construct of decisional conflict was conducted, followed by a translation of the results into a visual model.
RESULTS: Decisional conflict is a multi-dimensional construct and consists of factors influencing the decision making process (information, support, values clarity), level of uncertainty concerning the options and the quality of the decision making. Decisional conflict can be illustrated by using a model and assessed with the Decisional Conflict Scale.
CONCLUSION: Decisional conflict is informative and useful in the evaluation of the application of sdm and improvement of the quality of the decision making in mental health care as well. This is of importance since patients who experienced less decisional conflict are more engaged in treatment and show better clinical outcomes.