Shared Decision-Making. A Primer for Clinicians.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Delivery
• Clinical Practice
• Patient Engagement

Background:

• Shared decision-making (SDM) is promoted but challenging for clinicians to implement due to practical barriers.
• Clinicians often express support for SDM in principle but face difficulties in its application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a primer on shared decision-making specifically from the perspective of practicing clinicians.
• To address the practical concerns and barriers clinicians encounter when implementing SDM.

Main Methods:

• Collaborative co-production of a primer involving clinicians, patient representatives, and health service researchers.
• Utilized a series of jointly edited online documents and incorporated feedback from a wider group of clinicians and patients.
• Achieved consensus through iterative integration of contributions from diverse international participants.

Main Results:

• The primer was developed with input from 25 international contributors and feedback from 30 additional patients and clinicians.
• It directly addresses frequently cited clinician barriers to SDM, offering strategies for overcoming them.
• Key strategies include clear invitations, managing patient resistance to decisional responsibility, allowing deliberation time, and clarifying that consensus is not always the primary goal.

Conclusions:

• The primer promotes a reflective clinician aware of power dynamics, risk communication, and health literacy.
• It encourages clinicians to be curious about patient perspectives and to engage in collaborative, iterative decision-making processes.
• This resource aims to enhance the practical application of shared decision-making in clinical settings.