Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Deciding whether to undergo prenatal screening to assess the risk of certain genetic conditions in the fetus, and if so deciding among available prenatal screening tests, are difficult decisions faced by pregnant women and their partners. Shared decision making (SDM), a process whereby patients and doctors share health decisions based on the pros and cons of the options and on what matters most to the patient, can improve women's experiences at no increased cost. Not sharing decisions may lead to decisions that do not reflect the preferences of those involved, and to decision regret and its consequences on patient experience and health outcomes. In addition, each decision about genetic testing may entail further, increasingly difficult decisions, for example about preventive surgery on the fetus, termination of pregnancy, or major lifestyle changes. It is therefore critical that women be adequately supported for such decisions, and clinicians play an essential role in this. However, studies show that lack skills and knowledge about SDM in any context, including for prenatal screening. On the other hand, according to the World Health Organization, eHealth, or use of information/communication technologies in health, is "now an integral part of delivering improvements in health". However, my research in the use of eHealth for SDM highlighted major knowledge gaps. The first objective of this workshop is to train clinicians in SDM skills and improve their knowledge. Learning objectives are to: (i)introduce the main concepts of SDM and its importance in prenatal testing; (ii)present a decision aid which could facilitate SDM about prenatal testing; (iii)learn to implement it in clinical practice; (iv)illustrate how to engage in SDM with patients; (v)discuss and explore the potential barriers and facilitators of SDM about prenatal testing. The second objective is to discuss and explore the role of new technologies and eHealth in implementing SDM about prenatal testing.