A Spotlight On...
Shared Decision Making Alex Burnell | Content Developer at Blue Stream Academy
Shared decision making is a concept and practice designed to offer a greater balance of control between a health and care professional and an individual receiving treatment. It is a collaborative process in which a health and care professional supports an individual to reach a decision about their care or treatment.
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n the past, the health and social care industry was perceived as paternalistic, with members of the public glad to receive support and attention from an industry expert with considerable experience and qualifications. However, in modern day practice, individuals want – and expect – to play an integral role in their care and, more specifically, the decisionmaking process. A person who is receiving treatment is an expert about themselves, providing their values and expectations, attitude to risk and declaring their personal circumstances. The health and care professional reinforces this information with clinical validation based on a wealth of knowledge and experience, while providing diagnosis and outcome probabilities. 08
Why do we Need Shared Decision Making?
Shared decision making is a key component of person-centred and personalised health and social care – partly because it goes beyond informed consent. Given the extent of the uncertainty about most medical treatments and the presence of side effects, multiple courses of action are often possible and there is no one ‘correct’ option. Shared decision making gives a person the same control over their health and wellbeing that they would expect to have in all other aspects of life. From a clinical perspective, studies have shown that sharing decisions has positive effects on care quality outcomes, with specific improvements in individuals’
knowledge and understanding, their level of comfort with decisions, and their adherence to treatment programmes and lifestyle changes.
