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Shared decision making for mental health – an evidence summary

Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Australia, 2012

Related to Anxiety, Bereavement, loss and grief, Eating and body image, Mental health care, Parental mental illness, Substance use, Self-harm and suicide, Temperament, behaviour, attention and conduct difficulties
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This evidence summary details the current research literature on the clinician-client decision making process known as shared decision making (SDM) for mental health.

‘Health professionals are increasingly being encouraged to adopt a collaborative approach to making health care decisions. Clinical practice guidelines advocate for clinicians to involve clients in decision-making processes and allow for client preferences (along with evidence) to guide decisions where possible. Shared decision making (SDM) is the most prominent example of this. While this approach has strong face validity, it is a relatively new approach in the area of mental health, and evidence for the effectiveness of collaborative approaches is only just emerging.’

The evidence summary covers the following topics:

  • ‘What is shared decision making?’
  • ‘Decision aids’
  • ‘Aren’t we already doing this in mental health?’
  • ‘Do clients want to be involved?’
  • ‘Involving young people in their own mental health care’
  • ‘Can young people with mental disorders be involved?’
  • ‘Shared decision making for mental health’
  • ‘Shared decision making for youth mental health’
  • ‘Suggested steps for using SDM with young people’

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