Implementation of patient-centred care in Denmark: The way forward with shared decision-making

Current Danish legislation empowers patients in securing their rights, but there are no present legislative developments in Denmark to support patient involvement. Policy initiatives within health care, however, show positive trends by, for example, including recommendations for shared decision making (SDM) in national clinical guidelines and the allocation of resources to fund projects in SDM. Within the last five years, three out of five regions have launched centers in patient involvement and SDM to focus on training, implementation of patient decision aids (PtDAs) and to foster the cultural change in SDM. A national dissemination of a template for easy building of PtDAs accessible via an online platform is one of the latest initiatives.

Although the political discourse on SDM is gathering speed, an unclear definition and purpose of SDM is a barrier to real-life implementation. Politicians, leaders and clinicians seem to be moving at different paces and in different directions and are lacking consensus on SDM as a paradigm requiring training, leadership and a patient-centered mindset.

Many relevant initiatives are underway. However, SDM is also challenged by the lack of legislation and a central push for real SDM implementation in Denmark.