eCQ 11-4 Newsletter

Clinicians Offered Approach to Engaging Patients in Shared Decision Making

need for SDM and to prioritize its use. Prioritizing decisions needing SDM. Because patient input is not necessary for many routine clinical decisions made as part of standard care, SDM should be used for those “preference-sensitive” decisions likely to have substantial consequences. Establishing an environment that facilitates patient engagement. Explaining to patients beforehand that some of the recommendations in the encounter may be routine, but for others their participation may be needed and would be welcome, allows patients to feel more in control and free to ask questions or disagree if they wish. Making recommendations prudently. Patients will often welcome the clinician’s recommendation, but may need help in thinking through the decision. Clinicians are encouraged to use communication strategies that can help the patient reason through options. Source: “Realizing Shared Decision Making in Practice,” Journal of the American Medical Association; Epub ahead of print, July 25, 2019. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2019.9797. Beach MC, Sugarman J; Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University; and Division of General Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.

Where care and medical care come together... Mother’s Touch stands for quality and caring service in all aspects of hospice care. We employ tenured leadership and management, with many years of experience in home care nursing, home health, hospice and other forms of care for seniors. Our dedicated interdisciplinary hospice teams provide end-of-life medical, emotional and spiritual care. Our team members have focused their careers to use their extensive knowledge, professional experience, and most importantly, a mission-driven commitment to support our patients and their loved ones. Visit our website or contact us today for more information about hospice or to refer a patient to our hospice services. Shared decision making (SDM) is encouraged so that diagnostic and treatment courses will be consistent with the values and preferences of patients. Yet, “there is less SDM occurring than there should be,” according to an article pub- lished in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “[I]mposing a standard by which patients are expected to engage in all (or even most) decisions is not only unrealistic and inefficient, but also potentially burdensome to patients and clinicians,” the authors note. They suggest the following “solutions” for better realization of SDM in practice. ENCOURAGING PATIENT ENGAGEMENT IN SDM Decision aids. Well-sourced, comprehensive written ma- terials can help patients absorb the complexities of informa- tion helpful for understanding their options and participating meaningfully in decision making. Task specificity. Guidelines addressing SDM should include recommendations that clearly outline particular val- ues, risks, benefits, and consequences of different, specific decisions. This can help clinicians to better understand the

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