Our mission at the Beckwith Center for Shared Decision Making is to empower patients and providers to work together as partners to decide on the best care option for each individual. We believe that involving patients in all aspects of their medical care increases a patient’s understanding of their treatments and improves their confidence in all their healthcare decisions. We provide patients with high quality information on treatment options and give providers the tools and skills with which to discuss the risks, benefits and alternatives based on what matters most to the patient.
How Can I Help Achieve this Mission?
Discover
- Explore what role the patient and family want to play in their health care.
- Invite questions from patients and their family about their care and options.
- Ask patients open-ended questions about what's important and what matters most.
- Appreciate cultural differences and perspectives in patient health care decisions.
Educate
- Fully inform patients about their medical condition and check for their understanding.
- Clearly communicate risks, benefits, and likely outcomes of each treatment option.
- Engage patient families, surrogates, and/or supports in shared decision-making as appropriate.
- Encourage the use of decision aids to help improve communication and understanding.
Guide/Decide
- Recognize that patients may have difficulty deciding on a plan of care.
- Inform patients when more than one acceptable treatment option exists, including no treatment.
- Align patient's values, preferences, and expressed needs with your recommendations.
- Provide support, empathy, understanding, and address any concerns throughout this process.
