OTTAWA DECISION SUPPORT TUTORIAL FOR ENHANCING UNDERSTANDING OF SHARED DECISION MAKING: WHAT DO THE USERS THINK?

Purpose: To evaluate use of the Ottawa Decision Support Tutorial and explore users’ satisfaction.

Methods: A descriptive study of the user satisfaction survey within the tutorial. The tutorial is based on the Ottawa Decision Support Framework and scientific evidence. Users complete a series of 10 modules with self-evaluation feedback and a final test. Trials of the original tutorial showed that users had higher final test scores compared to controls. Subsequently, it was moved to a public website available free of charge in May 2007 (https://decisionaid.ohri.ca/ODST). With the 2013 update, a French version was added. This tutorial is often used for shared decision making implementation projects. After removing duplicates, findings were analyzed to determine user volume and their satisfaction ratings.

Results: The tutorial was completed by 1310 users over six years (2007-2013) and 1300 users over the last two years (2013-2015). Reasons for completing the tutorial were: required for a course or research study (81%), suggested by colleague (9%), for continuing education (4%), or curious (6%). Users disciplines included administrators/managers, case managers, chaplains, chiropractors, community health, counsellors, dietitians, early childhood, health educators,  health coaches, helpline operators, human resource advisors, journalists, kinesiologists, librarians, midwives, nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, physicians, psychologists, researchers, research assistants, respiratory therapists, policy makers, social workers, speech-language, and students. Users rated it as easy to understand (93%), comprehensive (98%), provided new information (90%), perceived it would help support individuals making difficult decisions (83%), and overall impression was good (56%) or excellent (34%). Modules rated most helpful: decisional needs, clarifying values, general decision support tools, patient decision aids, case study, and decision support and shared decision making. The certificate of completion was adequate (70%) or users preferred to also have medical (other disciplinary) education credits (30%). Since 2013, suggestions to improve the tutorial included more interactive elements (n=46), clarify quiz questions (n=42), more concise (n=39), more case studies (n=26), simpler language (n=25), more bullets and spacing (n=22), better navigation (n=19), and correct French spelling/grammar errors (n=14).

Conclusions:  A broad range of individuals, involved in health services and research, were very satisfied with the Ottawa Decision Support Tutorial. There has been a significant increase in its use in the last 2 years and their suggestions for improving the tutorial are being addressed in the 2015 update.