Grant: Operating Grant: Knowledge to Action

When making health related decisions, two experts are involved: healthcare professionals who are experts about the condition, treatment options, benefits and risks, and familes who are experts on their preferences, values and experience. When healthcare professionals and families deliberate prior to reaching a decision, it is called shared decision making (SDM). Families want healthcare professionals to listen to their views and preferences, yet family involvement in their child's health is poor. Many families and healthcare professionals lack the knowledge and skills required for SDM. Families report not knowing how to contribute to decision-making discussion; healthcare professionals often create barriers to family participation. Knowledge translation (KT) strategies that promote SDM have been shown to improve family participation in decision making, leading to higher quality health decisions. Family Decision Services is a newly developed program at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). We use evidence-based tools and strategies to educate and help healthcare professionals and families make health decisions with and about their children. To integrate Family Decision Services into practice, sevaral KT strategies will be used in three of CHEO's clinical areas. The project will recruit 45 families to take part in decision coaching using a patient decision aid, 20 healthcare professionals to participate in educational workshops about improving family involvement in decision making, and 45 families to participate in an educational workshop to empower and teach them SDM skills to become active participants in their children's care. We will study whether these KT strategies lead to greater family involvement in decision-making with the goal of expanding the strategies and work of Family Decision Services throughout CHEO.