5.1.a Module Overview and Objectives

Module 5: Practicing Person-Centred Decision Making 

This module will provide the tools to enable learners to apply the concepts learned in this course to simulate scenarios about interprofessional person-centred decision making. To do this learners will apply Collaborative Leadership and Shared Decision Making skills.  Interprofessional shared decision making requires providers to apply both leadership and collaboration skills. Collaborative Leadership involves partaking in a collaborative process that supports shared decision making as well as applying leadership principles that imply continued professional autonomy and accountability (1). To share decision making successfully, providers need to be both collaborators and leaders.

Leadership, expertise, and collaboration are fundamental aspects of efficient and effective health care." (WHO, 2005)

When collaborating with an interprofessional group of health care providers, each person is responsible to the client, to the group and to their own profession. Shared leadership is an essential skill that must be developed in order to share decision making when collaborating. Providers assume shared accountability for the processes chosen by the group to achieve their outcomes, yet they remain individually accountable to their profession. It may seem that the concepts of collaboration and leadership are at odds with each other because often leadership is misinterpreted as "management."

Leadership is defined as a relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people in the accomplishment of a common task." (Mullins 2009)

There are two components to the leadership role: task-orientation and relationship-orientation (1). In the former, the leader helps other members keep on task in achieving a commonly agreed upon goal, while in the latter, the leader assists members to work more effectively together. In a shared leadership model, clients may choose to serve as the leader or leadership may move among practitioners to provide opportunities to be mentored in the leadership role. In some cases, there may be two leaders: one for practitioners to keep the work flowing and the other who connects with clients and families in a helping relationship, serving as the link between the team and the client/family. 

To support collaborative practice, practitioners collaboratively determine who will provide group leadership in a situation by (1):

• working with others to enable effective client outcomes
• advancing interdependent working relationships among all participants
• facilitating effective team processes
• facilitating effective decision making
• establishing a climate for collaborative practice among all participants
• co-creating a climate for shared leadership and collaborative practice
• applying collaborative decision-making principles
• integrating the principles of continuous quality improvement to work processes and outcomes

 

Learning Objectives

By the end of this simulation, you will be able to:

1. Identify and demonstrate the PCDM steps.
2. Personalize the care plan and help a client to interpret options within their personal and cultural context.
3. Clarify roles to overcome overlaps in role distribution during an interprofessional PCDM process.
4. Apply team processes, such as CENTRE and SIT, to collaborate with an interprofessional team to share decision making.
5.  Apply ABCD & DEAR to manage conflict and demonstrate effective communication skills.
6. Use debrief strategies during conflict by demonstrating an aspect of the 6 criteria for a quality debrief.