Patients' perspectives on shared decision making in secondary mental healthcare in Taiwan: A qualitative study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to explore patient perspectives on shared decision making in secondary mental healthcare in Taiwan.

METHODS: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were used to explore patient perspectives on shared decision making in secondary mental healthcare in Taiwan. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted from July to August 2017 with a purposive sample of twenty patients using halfway houses. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS: Analysis of the interviews identified two themes: barriers to shared decision making; facilitators of shared decision making. Patients perceived that they were not involved in decision making due to: the professional status of health professionals; negative perception of making decisions; and limited time resources. However, patients reported a desire to be involved and felt sufficient information exchange would be a necessary step towards collaboration/sharing decisions about treatment with clinicians.

CONCLUSION: The findings provided an understanding of significant barriers to and facilitators of implementing shared decision making to aid further professional training and the development of national policies.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The findings could be the basis for developing effective strategies to overcome barriers to shared decision making and improve the process quality of delivering shared decision making.