Abstract
Objective Many factors influence a patient’s preference in engaging in shared decision making (SDM). Several training programs have been developed for teaching SDM to physicians, but none of these focused on patients’ preferences. We developed an SDM training program for rheumatologists with a specific focus on patients’ preferences and assessed its effects.
Methods a training program was developed, pilot tested, and given to 30 rheumatologists. Immediately after the training and 10 weeks later rheumatologists were asked to complete a questionnaire to evaluate the training. Patients were asked before and after the training to complete a questionnaire on patient satisfaction.
Results Ten weeks after the training 57% of the rheumatologists felt capable to estimate the need of patients to engage in SDM, 62% felt their communication skills had improved after this training and 33% reported to engage more in SDM. Up to 268 patients were included. Overall, patient satisfaction was high, but there were no statistically significant differences in patient satisfaction before and after the training.
Conclusion The training was received well by the participating rheumatologists. Even in a population of rheumatologists that communicate well, 62% reported improvement. The training program increased awareness about the principles of SDM in patients and physicians, and improved phycisian’s communicative skills, but did not lead to further improvement in patients’ satisfaction, which was already high.
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