29 INTERNATIONAL WORKING GROUP ON CORE COMPETENCIES FOR TRAINING HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN SHARED DECISION MAKING HIGHLIGHTS THE HETEROGENEITY OF CURRENT PROGRAMS

Thursday, October 18, 2012
The Atrium (Hyatt Regency)
Poster Board # 29
Decision Psychology and Shared Decision Making (DEC)

France Légaré, MD, PhD1, Nora Ferdjaoui-Moumjid, PhD2, Renée Drolet, PhD3, Dawn Stacey, PhD4, Martin Haerter5, Hilda Bastian6, Marie-Dominique Beaulieu, Md, MSc7, Francine Borduas, MD8, Cathy Charles, PhD9, Angela Coulter, PhD10, Sophie Desroches, RD, PhD11, Gwendolyn Friedrich, MSc12, Amiram Gafni, PhD9, Michel Labrecque, MD, PhD13, Annie Leblanc, PhD14, Jean Legare15, Mary Politi, PhD16, Joan Sargeant, PhD17 and Richard Thomson, MD18, (1)CHUQ Research Center-Hospital St-François d'Assise, Knowledge Transfer and Health Technology Assessment, Quebec, QC, Canada, (2)Lyon 1 University, Lyon, France, (3)Research Center of Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Hopital St-François D'Assise, Québec, QC, Canada, (4)University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, (5)Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, (6)National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, (7)Institut national d'excellence en santé et en services sociaux, (INESSS), Montreal, QC, Canada, (8)Universite Laval, Quebec, QC, Canada, (9)McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, (10)Informed Medical Decision Foundation, Oxford, United Kingdom, (11)Université Laval; CHUQ Research Center-Hôpital St-François d'Assise, Quebec, QC, Canada, (12)Ministry of Health, Saskatchewan, Regina, SK, Canada, (13)Laval University, Quebec, QC, Canada, (14)Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA, Rochester, MN, (15)Arthritis Society, Quebec, QC, Canada, (16)Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, (17)Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada, (18)University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Purpose: An environmental scan of shared decision making (SDM) training programs for healthcare professionals showed that they vary widely in how and what they deliver. We sought to identify a list of core competencies for SDM training programs.

Method: In April 2012, we convened an interdisciplinary and international group of educators, policy-makers, clinicians, patient representatives, health communicators, students and experts in SDM models to a two-day workshop in Quebec City. The workshop consisted of participant presentations and group discussions on concepts and theories of SDM and education, existing SDM training programs, policy issues relating to training health professionals in SDM, SDM conceptual models, SDM competencies, and core competencies for SDM training programs that meet stakeholders’ needs. On day two, we invited participants to reach a consensus on a list of core competencies based on their discussions and to co-author a position paper based on the proposed list. Participants were asked to identify next steps for moving forward a list of core competencies for SDM.

Result: Presentations highlighted and precipitated discussion around definitions of SDM, learning objectives, characteristics and evaluation of existing SDM training programs, as well as stakeholders’ needs and expectations regarding SDM. Some participants believe that the Makoul & Clayman’s model is adequate and should now be widely implemented, while others wish to reflect further on SDM and define its limits for clinical decision-making. Two major groups of competencies came to the fore: relational competencies and risks communication skills. However, participants did not reach a consensus on specific competencies considered essential in SDM training programs. Nor did they reach consensus on whether this was a desirable goal to try to achieve at this point in time when little evidence is available to support which competencies to recommend. Some participants felt clinicians should have short trainings available, while others felt multiday workshops with hands-on learning opportunities are better. Next steps suggested included a team grant application by participants wishing to move forward on identifying and implementing core competencies. 

Conclusion: There is no consensus on core competencies for SDM training programs for healthcare professionals among a group of stakeholders from diverse backgrounds. Participants agreed that a common position paper be prepared and should include discussion of the above varied positions.