Shared Decision Making
Decisions about treatment are often most effective when they are made collaboratively, with the provider offering information about treatment options (including potential benefits, risks, and side effects) and the person living with the mood disorder and their caregiver making an informed decision that accounts for the person’s treatment goals and preferences. These articles, first published on our advocacy website Care for Your Mind, help you understand what’s involved in shared decision making.

Why You Deserve Shared Decision Making by John W. Williams, Jr., M.D., Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry, Duke University
Decision Aids Can Be Developed to Successfully Support Shared Decision Making in Clinical Encounters by Juan P. Brito Campana, M.D., M.Sc. and Annie LeBlanc, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic Knowledge and Evaluation Research Unit
Using Decision Aids in Depression Treatment: An Update
Shared Decision Making – with Families – Yields Better Treatment Outcomes by Alison M. Heru, M.D., University of Colorado Denver
How Can Parents Help in Shared Decision Making?
Check out the other posts in the Depression Treatment Series on Care for Your Mind
- Depression Treatment: It’s About You
- What You Know Affects Treatment
- Response, Remission, Recovery: What Are Your Depression Treatment Goals?
- How to Get the Best, Most Appropriate, Tailored for You Depression Treatment
- How to Address Other Issues in Depression Treatment
- Faster and Easier Approaches for Improving Patients’ Depression Treatment Outcomes
- When Primary Care Providers Treat Depression – Tips for Engagement
- How to Help a Loved One with a Mood Disorder: The FFDA Action Plan
- Does Your Family Know Your Mental Health Care Preferences?