A Simple Approach to Shared Decision Making in Cancer Screening

Abstract

Shared decision making is a key component of patient centered care. Shared decision making involves bidirectional information flow between the clinician and the patient. In cancer screening discussions, the clinician provides information about the screening test and the disease and the patient provides information about his/her values relevant to the test and risk factors. Then the decision whether to undergo the screening test is made jointly by both parties. Several models are available to guide primary care clinicians in the process of shared decision making within a visit. This article describes several different models of shared decision making and provides case examples of how to use these models within a conversation about cancer screening.