A Practical Approach for Developing Shared Decision-Making Knowledge, Skills, and Capability for Busy Health Care...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Education
• Clinical Practice Improvement
• Shared Decision-Making

Background:

• Scaling shared decision-making (SDM) in clinical practice remains challenging despite decades of development.
• Busy clinicians managing complex, chronic conditions often face preference-sensitive decisions.
• A new virtual continuing education program, the Practical Approach, was developed to address these challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development and initial experiences with the Practical Approach program.
• To provide accessible, plain-language training in SDM for real-world clinical practice.
• To assess the program's impact on clinician knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding SDM.

Main Methods:

• The Practical Approach program was developed using evidence-based principles.
• The program was piloted in 4 settings across 2 chronic conditions.
• Qualitative interviews and simulation role-play exercises assessed participant attitudes, knowledge, and skills.

Main Results:

• Participants showed improved, more realistic SDM attitudes and enhanced knowledge and skills post-program.
• Qualitative interviews and simulations demonstrated these improvements.
• Post-program focus groups indicated the program was perceived as feasible, acceptable, and useful.

Conclusions:

• The Practical Approach program shows potential to positively impact SDM knowledge, skills, and attitudes in novice clinicians.
• The program demonstrated initial feasibility, utility, and acceptability for busy practicing clinicians.
• This virtual training offers a scalable solution for enhancing SDM in complex care settings.