Shared decision making in West Africa: The forgotten area

Up to now, little attention has been paid to West Africa when it comes to shared decision making (SDM). West African countries seem to lag behind with regard to SDM initiatives compared to many other countries in the world. There is some interest in informed decision making or informed consent, but...

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Published in:Zeitschrift für Evidenz, Fortbildung und Qualität im Gesundheitswesen Fortbildung und Qualität im Gesundheitswesen, 2017-06, Vol.123-124, p.7-11
Main Authors: Diouf, Ndeye Thiab, Ben Charif, Ali, Adisso, Lionel, Adekpedjou, Rhéda, Zomahoun, Hervé Tchala Vignon, Agbadjé, Titilayo Tatiana, Dogba, Mama Joyce, Garvelink, Mirjam Marjolein
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
Africa, Western
Decision Making
Gesundheitspolitik
health policy
Humans
implementation
Implementierung
informed decision making
informierte Entscheidungsfindung
partizipative Entscheidungsfindung
Patient Participation
shared decision making
West Africa
Westafrika
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Summary:Up to now, little attention has been paid to West Africa when it comes to shared decision making (SDM). West African countries seem to lag behind with regard to SDM initiatives compared to many other countries in the world. There is some interest in informed decision making or informed consent, but little in a full SDM process. Few decision-making tools are available for healthcare professionals and the majority are not designed to support decision-making with patients. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, there are no training programs for implementing SDM in healthcare teams. Many barriers exist to implementing SDM in West Africa, including lack of options, few or poor health resources and low levels of education. However, African countries present many opportunities for SDM as well. Existing SDM innovations developed for other populations with low literacy could be explored and adapted to the West African context, and research on implementation and outcomes in West Africa could contribute to SDM worldwide. West African countries are in an excellent position to both learn from other countries and contribute to SDM development in other parts of the world. In this paper we reflect on SDM challenges and opportunities, and propose a research agenda for West Africa. We hope to awaken interest in SDM in West Africa and encourage future collaborations on SDM with various West African stakeholders, including patients, healthcare professionals, policymakers, non-government organisations (NGOs) and academic institutions. Bislang hat man Westafrika, wenn es um partizipative Entscheidungsfindung (PEF) geht, nur wenig Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Westafrikanische Länder scheinen im Hinblick auf PEF-Initiativen hinter der Entwicklung in vielen anderen Ländern auf der Welt zurückgeblieben zu sein. Themen wie informierte Entscheidungsfindung oder informierte Einwilligung stoßen auf ein gewisses Interesse, an einem vollständigen PEF-Prozess ist das Interesse aber eher gering. Fachkräften im Gesundheitswesen stehen nur wenige Entscheidungshilfen zur Verfügung, von denen die meisten zudem nicht darauf ausgelegt sind, die Entscheidungsfindung von Patienten zu unterstützen. Darüber hinaus gibt es unseres Wissens keine Schulungsprogramme für die Implementierung von PEF in Gesundheitsteams. Der Umsetzung von PEF in Westafrika stehen viele Hindernisse entgegen, darunter fehlende Möglichkeiten, knappe oder unzureichende Gesundheitsressourcen und ein niedriges Bildungsniveau.
ISSN:1865-9217
2212-0289
DOI:10.1016/j.zefq.2017.05.013