Patient participation in the clinical decision making process in psychiatric treatment – a review of the literature

Background/Objectives: Shared decision making is an important concept in the medical literature and closely related to patient-centred care, empowerment, and evidence based patient choice. The concept refers to sharing of relevant information among patients and staff in order to arrive at agreed upon treatment decisions after a cooperative process of assessing pros and cons. In contrast to acute health conditions, the process of decision making is continuous in chronic diseases. So far, studies on patient involvement in decision-making in mental health care have primarily focussed on rather general decision at t…