Oxford Textbook of Shared Decision Making in Healthcare

Abstract Shared decision making (SDM) occurs when a healthcare professional ‘takes your hand and walks with you’. The concept is simple: work together when solving problems and making decisions. However, the context is more challenging. Power asymmetry, cultural expectations, and low psychological safety, to name just a few barriers, mean the collaborative process requires a skilful blend of curiosity, empathy, and exemplary communication. The silver lining is that clinicians who master this approach are rewarded by people who recognize their great work, and patients are more confident that good choices were made based on their goals. Healthcare systems around the world are placing increasing importance on the relationship between patient choice and clinical decision making, with many countries having SDM as a central theme in their healthcare policy developments. Written by a global team of experts, this fourth edition explores SDM by examining, from both theoretical and practical perspectives, what comprises an effective decision making process, looking at the benefits and potential difficulties that arise when patients and clinicians share healthcare decisions. The first sections cover the theory, methods, and implementation of SDM. Later sections examine SDM from the viewpoints of different clinical specialities, and allied disciplines such as nursing, pharmacy, and midwifery. Each chapter also contains reflections from a patient partner with lived experience of SDM, giving a truly diverse and collaborative account of how SDM can work between patients, families, carers, and healthcare professionals.