Exploring Shared Decision-Making Training in Pediatrics: A Scoping Review

Shared decision-making (SDM) is crucial in pediatric care, but its implementation poses unique challenges. Training health care professionals in pediatric SDM is essential, yet little is known about the current state of these training programs.

Review existing pediatric-specific SDM training programs to understand the current state of training and identify areas for improvement.

Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Education Research Complete, and LILACS.

We included original research publications in English, Spanish, and German that focused on SDM training involving pediatric health care professionals or evaluated SDM training within pediatric settings.

We used a custom Covidence template to extract data on publication year, author, SDM focus, participants, curriculum design, teaching strategies, evaluated outcomes, and how the curriculum incorporated children's participation.

Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Most programs were from North America and published after 2018. Training approaches varied widely, with many focusing on specific clinical contexts. Only 2 curricula explicitly considered children as participants in the SDM process. Evaluation methods and outcomes varied across Kirkpatrick levels, with most programs reporting positive results in participant satisfaction, skill improvement, and patient outcomes.

Only papers in English, Spanish, and German were included in the search.

While progress has been made in developing pediatric SDM training programs, there is a need for more consistency in content and evaluation methods. Future pediatric SDM training programs should prepare health care professionals with the skills necessary to involve children in the SDM process when appropriate.