Shared decision-making is one of the cornerstones of person-centered care. Getting your client to actively participate in the decision-making process is the best way to ensure that your recommendations are suitable for them – and that the client will follow through with them. To encourage this practice, Kris English, Ph.D., has written a primer on shared decision-making.
The recipe for shared decision-making seems simple: First, the hearing care professional shares information with the client about their test results and treatment options. Second, the client is invited to express their needs and preferences and, third and final, the clinician and client decide on a course of action together.
However, for this approach to be successful, it requires another essential ingredient, namely that the hearing care professional is able to shift focus from providing directives and advice to truly involving the patient in the appointment. To support this, the author identifies a number of typical instructions that a hearing care professional would give and offers scripted conversation-starters that take a shared decision-making approach as an alternative. She also stresses that hearing care professionals must be supportive if their clients choose not take action in that appointment, while highlighting that a client who is not invited to participate in decisions about their own care may not follow recommendations that they don’t feel suit their lifestyle.
The article makes a convincing and well-written case for shared decision-making and provides hands-on advice as well as useful references for those looking to develop their shared decision-making skills.
Kris is a professor emeritus at the University of Akron in Ohio, and a member of Ida’s Research Committee. She is also the co-author, with John Greer Clark, Ph.D., of Counseling Infused Audiologic Care, now in its third pressing. You can read her full article on advancingaudcounseling.com.