International collaboration - PROJECT COMPLETED

Translating shared decision making into clinical practice

Shared decision making (SDM) is defined as the process by which a healthcare decision is made by both the practitioner and the patient (i.e. the practitioner-patient dyad). Engaging patients as partners in their own care increases patient satisfaction and correlates with a better quality of life. Yet the SDM approach has not been adopted by the population at large. There are several important barriers to the successful implementation of SDM in primary care. To identify and overcome these barriers, it is important to simultaneously evaluate patients' and health professionals' perspectives of the SDM process (dyadic decision-making). The main goal of this project was to bring together the resources and the expertise needed to develop an international research team dedicated to implementing SDM in clinical practice. This international collaboration addresses the challenges posed by the implementation of SDM through the use of a dyadic perspective. Ultimately, the results will improve how the Canadian healthcare system and its professionals understand and respond to public expectations about health services and healthcare management.

Protocol
Légaré F, Elwyn G, Fishbein M, Frémont P, Frosch D, Gagnon MP, Kenny DA, Labrecque M, Stacey D, St-Jacques S, van der Weijden T. Translating shared decision-making into health care clinical practices: Proof of concepts. Implementation Science. 2008 Dec;3(1):2.

In clinical settings, the ideal pathway for knowledge transfer is through the sharing of decisions between clinician and patient. Embedded in a specific relationship, this process is known as shared decision making (SDM). Despite evidence supporting the merits of SDM, medical decision-making has been studied as if clinicians and patients lived in separate worlds. The main goal of this CIHR-funded project was to bring together the resources and the expertise necessary to develop an interdisciplinary and international research team dedicated to the study of implementing SDM in clinical practice using a theory-based dyadic perspective–that is, a relationship-centered approach. The objective of Phase 2 of the project is to foster and sustain a community of practice in this area. First, we will hire a project manager responsible for publicizing our activities; recruiting new participants; facilitating participant activities, including the e-journal club; acting as webmaster and updating the website; and tailoring activities to the participants' needs. Second, we will produce all of our materials in both of Canada's official languages (French and English). Third, we will create three new open-access sections on our public website: 1) a virtual library of relevant documents; 2) a training section for researchers and trainees for which OPD-165691 workshop material will be used; and 3) a dyadic data analytical exercise in the implementation of SDM in clinical practice.