Engaging Multidisciplinary Stakeholders to Drive Shared Decision-Making in Oncology

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Services Research
• Patient Engagement

Background:

• Shared decision-making (SDM) is a best practice in oncology but its integration into routine care is challenging.
• There is a need for usable, feasible, and practical tools to facilitate SDM in oncology settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify key principles for designing and testing processes to promote SDM in routine oncology practice.
• To describe best practices for overcoming challenges in SDM implementation.

Main Methods:

• Convened a multidisciplinary collaborative including health-care delivery experts.
• Identified and described three best practices for SDM implementation.

Main Results:

• Best practice 1: Engage diverse stakeholders interested in SDM.
• Best practice 2: Develop and validate an evidence-based SDM tool using a conceptual framework.
• Best practice 3: Create a roadmap and consider infrastructure for patient engagement in decision-making.

Conclusions:

• These three principles are critical for creating effective SDM tools for use in clinical and non-clinical settings.
• Widespread adoption of SDM tools can overcome barriers in busy clinical workflows.
• This work offers insights into patient preferences and values, promoting patient-centered decision-making.