Brenda Wong, MD, is a neurologist who directs the UMass Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Program, and she is a pioneer in organizing multidisciplinary care for Duchenne populations. She encourages patients to have a shared decision making approach with their providers, especially if they feel disempowered in clinical settings.
Transcript
If patients feel like they’re intimidated or they are just not able to bring up to their provider their views and their decisions, I would suggest patients inquire about working on a patient- or family-centered approach whereby it’s shared care decision, and where the provider, with his or her expertise, would be able to make recommendations, but with providing the patient with all information that is necessary for the patient to weigh in on that decision and make that final decision.
After all, the patient is the one that is going to execute the care decision on a day-to-day basis. So having a patient- and family-centered care approach would help the patient feel that they are in a position to discuss and to share differences as to why their decisions may differ and what their options are.
