Ensuring Diversity and Inclusivity in the Coproduction of a Shared Decision-Making Intervention

Conference:

SAPC ASM 2024 - Bristol

Talk Code:

1D.6

Presenter:

Jo Butterworth

Co-authors:

Suzanne Richards

Author institutions:

Exeter Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx), University of Exeter Medical School; Leeds Unit for Complex Intervention Development, University of Leeds

Problem

Shared decision-making is central to the provision of high-quality, equitable health care. Doctoral research, focusing on people with multiple long-term conditions (MLTC), showcased the complexities of SDM during general practitioner (GP) consultations. A new intervention ‘VOLITION’ was designed, to support tailored shared decision-making, incorporating a patient’s priorities into the interplay between MLTC and a practitioner’s clinical uncertainties.VOLITION requires coproduction. Developmental studies were limited to older people from the southwest of England, and their GPs. However, there are likely to be cultural influences on how people perceive shared decision-making.

Approach

A Community of Practice (CoP) will give a diverse group of individuals equal voice to discuss SDM and VOLITION. The CoP will include lay individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds across the UK, working alongside academics, clinicians, and educators. CoP membership will be advertised via social media, community networks and professional organisations. Three workshops will have set agendas - relevant to the production of inclusive, accessible, and innovative materials - followed by reflective feedback.

Findings

Findings will be available at conference. CoP members will coproduce VOLITION components that are likely to include:(i) an invitation to patients (in the form of a handout, for example), to convey their preferences for shared decision-making, as well as their personal priorities, suitable for people from diverse cultural and social backgrounds. (ii) training for clinicians in the VOLITION model, including an expectation for a spectrum of patient preferences for involvement; reflecting (cultural/ethnic/socioeconomic) diversity.

Consequences

ImplicationsThis project fits with the intentions of policymakers; to empower patients and to train clinicians in shared decision-making. Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in research can improve its relevance to practice and address inequality. This work will inform a national collaborative trial of VOLITION across diverse primary care settings. The EDI approach here will provide a template for coproduction of equitable, person-centred health care interventions.

Submitted by:

Jo Butterworth

Funding acknowledgement:

This work is funded by the Public Engagement with Research (PER) Springboard Fund from the University of Exeter. JB is funded by a NIHR Academic Clinical Lectureship.