Center for Shared Decision Making
Learn more about Center for Shared Decision Making, the patient decision aid DECISION HELPER™ and how we implement shared decision making.
What is Shared Decision Making? Watch our animated video for a short introduction.
Text alternative for animated film on Shared Decision Making
Who are you really? What makes you different from everyone else? Somethings are obvious to everyone around you, but others only become clear when you talk about them.
Many achievements and experiences throughout your life have shaped you into the person YOU are. No two lives are the same.
When dining in a restaurant, you choose from the options on the menu, depending on what you would like, how hungry you are, and what you know you don't like.
You do this because YOU are an expert at being you. This is also the same when, for example, you go to the hospital. The healthcare professional is an expert in treatments and diagnoses, but they know nothing about you! …Not yet anyway. Based on the knowledge you have about yourself and the expert knowledge of the healthcare professional, you can work together to identify the best choice for you.
It´s not a matter of you standing alone with responsibility for the decision. Using your knowledge of who you are, the healthcare professional can better support you in making the right decisions. Regarding your treatment, for example. Remember, It’s you who will have to live with the decision, so it’s important that you carefully consider what it will mean for you. You may even want your close family and friends to help you. We call this "Shared Decision Making".
You are not being difficult because of who you are or when you express your wishes or demands and ask questions, about your treatment, for example. Sometimes you might find it difficult to decide what really matters to you and what is important. The healthcare professional can help you when considering these matters.
The healthcare professional is there to help you! And you are there to help the healthcare professional to learn more about you! Together you can help one another to take the very best care of YOU!
What do we do in Center for Shared Decision Making?
Center for Shared Decision Making works with a practical approach to the concept of 'shared decision making'. Our job is to research and implement shared decision making in clinical practice through collaboration with patients, healthcare professionals, and policy makers.
The center has existed since 2014 and initially adopted a research-based approach to gather evidence-based knowledge on the effects of shared decision making in a Danish context.
Since 2019, our efforts have followed a three-pronged approach: to research, disseminate knowledge about, and implement shared decision making in hospitals. After five years of dedicated research following the centre’s launch in 2014, we began implementing shared decision making in clinical departments and psychiatric care across the Region of Southern Denmark — and have since worked to expand this implementation across Danish hospitals, including Mental Health Services nationwide.