Poster Session A - Sunday Afternoon
Category: Practice Management
Sudharshan Achalu, BA
Stanford University
Redwood City, CA
Barriers / Facilitators | Theme | Beliefs | Corroborating Interview Quote |
Barriers | Time | I believe time constraints in clinic are a barrier to SDM | “I imagine, probably the biggest barrier is time. It's a lot easier to just tell a patient what to do. I mean if I just tell them, you know you're going to take a PPI, now goodbye, that takes about 10 seconds. If I lay out every option and explain all the pros and cons of every option. the adverse effects and possible drug interactions and implications of everything, that will take more than 30 minutes.” |
Patient Characteristics | I believe low patient health care literacy is a barrier to SDM | “I think the biggest barriers are really trying to break down complex medical pathology and tests for a lay person with various ranges of medical literacy and insight. So, trying to make patients exactly understand what the options are for testing and treatment is always the challenge.” | |
Patient Characteristics | I believe patient fear/anxiety is a barrier to SDM | “There are patients who are just intimidated by the medical personnel and environment, and they just don't feel comfortable asking questions, mostly because of their insecurities or fearful of portraying that they do not understand. | |
Facilitators | Physician Communication | I believe drawing diagrams with images facilitates SDM | “I'll try to maximize their understanding, asking if they have questions, at multiple points along the way, and stopping to do that. I think diagrams are helpful as well. When we're talking about shared decision-making, graphics can be helpful in ensuring that patients understand options and complex treatments” |
Physician Communication | I believe the use of question prompt lists (QPL) facilitates SDM | “I think that this absolutely has the potential to be effective, particularly for people with limited healthcare literacy, or for those who with new diagnosis, [or] for those who have not previously searched the Internet. I think that QPLs are really helpful because they allow patients to think and focus on the disease and their symptoms that matter to them the most.” | |
Physician Communication | I believe informing patients about treatment options facilitates SDM | “First part of SDM is to explain thoroughly the disease process to the patient, so they understand to some degree the pathophysiology and why the available treatments could be effective. I think it's important to go through all the risks and benefits of each of those treatment proposals. And then it's important to ask the patient what they think about the various decisions.” |