Shared decision-making (SDM) is an increasingly advocated partnership approach in mental health care, where both service users and providers collaborate to make decisions. This Cochrane Review, an update of a 2010 publication, explores the impact of SDM on clinical outcomes, patient involvement, recovery, satisfaction, knowledge, treatment adherence, health service outcomes, and adverse events.
The updated review includes 15 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving adults with severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder, primarily in higher-income countries. The evidence suggests SDM interventions may enhance immediate user-reported outcomes but show uncertain effects on clinical outcomes, long-term involvement, recovery, and overall satisfaction due to very low-certainty evidence. Some studies indicated moderate improvements in users’ satisfaction with information received. However, the overall evidence quality remains low, highlighting the need for more rigorous research to better understand the effectiveness of SDM interventions in mental health care.
Reference: Aoki Y, Yaju Y, Utsumi T, et al. Shared decision-making interventions for people with mental health conditions. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022 Nov 11;11(11):CD007297. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007297.pub3. PMID: 36367232; PMCID: PMC9650912.
