Perceptions of shared decision making among health care professionals

Min-Chun Chung; Wang-Chuan Juang; Ying-Chun Li

doi:10.1111/jep.13249

Perceptions of shared decision making among health care professionals

J Eval Clin Pract. 2019 Dec;25(6):1080-1087. doi: 10.1111/jep.13249. Epub 2019 Aug 13.

Authors

Min-Chun Chung¹, Wang-Chuan Juang^{2

3}, Ying-Chun Li¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Health Care Management, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
² Quality Management Center, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
³ Department of Business Management, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

PMID: 31410954
DOI: 10.1111/jep.13249

Abstract

Rationale and aims: Scholars have progressively promoted shared decision making (SDM) as an optimal model of treatment decision making in clinical practice. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether health care professionals (a) understand SDM well, (b) believe that SDM is helpful in their daily practice, and (c) are willing to practice SDM during their daily activities. These are crucial research topics; however, such research is still limited. The aim of this study was to apply the knowledge-attitude-behavior (KAB) model to probe health care professionals' perceptions of SDM.

Methods: A questionnaire was delivered to health care professionals working in various hospitals in southern Taiwan from 9 November 2018 to 8 January 2019. In addition to KAB constructs, this study explored the barriers to SDM practice and willingness to practice SDM among health care professionals. Predictive variables were subjected to multiple linear regression analysis to investigate health care professionals' views of SDM.

Results: Valid respondents numbered 400, including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and other health care professionals. The characteristics of these health care professionals significantly affected the mean scores of the KAB model. A correlation analyses indicated that the KAB constructs were positively correlated with each other. The top three barriers reported were lack of time (57.50%), lack of knowledge (38.25%), and difficulty of developing patient decision aids (37.75%). Respondents who were willing to practice SDM opined that SDM can provide the best health care for patients (81.62%), can maintain and improve individual clinical expertise (77.38%), and can meet patient and social expectations (48.40%).

Conclusions: Continuous emphasis on education regarding SDM and continuous promotion of a positive attitude of SDM acceptance can influence the behaviour of practicing SDM among health care professionals. Further study is required to assess the SDM practices of various health care professionals in different settings.

Keywords: KAB model; health care professionals; shared decision making.

MeSH terms

Adult
Attitude of Health Personnel*
Decision Making, Shared*
Decision Support Techniques
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Patient Participation / methods*
Patient Preference
Professional-Patient Relations
Taiwan
Time Factors