Resources

Developing a Shared Decision-Making Program
Training/Capacity Building
  • AHRQ SHARE Approach. AHRQ’s SHARE Approach is a five-step process for shared decision-making that includes exploring and comparing the benefits, harms, and risks of each option through meaningful dialogue about what matters most to the patient. Includes a workshop curriculum, tools, and webinars on SDM skills, communication skills, and SDM implementation.
  • Midsouth PTN Shared Decision-Making Toolkit. This toolkit, developed by the Midsouth Practice Transformation Network (PTN), provides an overview of the steps in Shared Decision Making, explores key skills to improve provider-patient communication, and introduces resources that can aid in the process.
  • Inventory of Shared Decision-Making Programs for Healthcare Professionals. A list of training activities curated by the Canada Research Chair in Shared Decision-Making and Knowledge Translation at Université Laval.
  • Shared Decision-Making E-learning Course. Provided by the Minnesota Shared Decision-Making Collaborative, this one-hour e-learning course covers the basics of SDM.
Tools for SDM Implementation
  • Ottawa Personal Decision Guide. A generic tool designed to be used for any health decision and can be used by healthcare professionals to help facilitate decisions. Available in multiple languages.
  • Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Patient Decision Aids. A list of patient decision aids, including an extensive list of cancer decision aids, that meet a minimal set of criteria.
  • “Know Yourself” Worksheet. A tool developed by the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) that helps patients prepare for a visit to their doctor and discuss their preferences with their family and healthcare team. Worksheet includes discussion of goals and quality of life priorities.
  • Measurement and Evaluation Tools for Palliative Care. Developed by the National Palliative Care Research Center, a compilation of tools to assess aspects of palliative care including pain and symptom management, functional status, psychosocial care, caregiver assessment, and quality of life.
  • Mayo Clinic Shared Decision-Making National Resource Center. Decision aids do not include those for cancer, however existing tools are useful examples of what SDM can do.
Communication
Quality Improvement/Program Evaluation
  • Measure and Evaluate. Minnesota Shared Decision-Making Collaborative: Includes measurement resources to assess how well your SDM program is working.
  • SDM Q9. A nine-item questionnaire that measures the extent to which patients are involved in decision-making from the perspective of the patient.
  • National Quality Partners PlaybookTM: Shared Decision-Making in Healthcare. A practical guide for healthcare organizations to implement or strengthen SDM. Includes six fundamentals to guide SDM, implementation examples, barriers, and solutions to overcome barriers.
  • Decision Making at the Point of Care: Voices of Oncology Providers, A Patient Values Initiative Issue Brief. Produced by CancerCare through the Patient Values Initiative, a summary of qualitative research to understand some provider perspectives on the importance and utility of learning about their patients’ lifestyles and priorities, and how and when this information is recorded and/or shared with the larger care team. Provides tips on how to effectively use EHRs to improve person-centered care.
Patient Resources
  • Open to Options. A decision-support counseling program accessed through Cancer Support Community affiliates or by phone.
  • Let’s Talk Treatment Options. A web-based tool for use by patients ahead of their appointment to help them think through questions about their diagnosis, their treatment options, and their goals, including what matters most right now.
  • ASCO Answers Fact Sheets: Produced by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), available for most cancers and includes a list of “questions to ask the health care team” for patients.
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