Creation of a Novel Shared Decision-Making Tool in Pediatric High-Risk Asthma Clinic

Best practices regarding communication using shared-decision making (SDM) strategies in pediatric high-risk asthma remain unexplored. This project examines whether the addition of a written communication tool based on principles of SDM facilitates improves communication between patient families and the care team in a pediatric high-risk asthma clinic (HRA), when compared to established communication practices. A novel shared decision-making form (SDMF) was developed with the help of a clinical communications specialist. Patients ≥ 9 years of age and their families were given a HRA communication survey at the end of their baseline visit to assess satisfaction of communication with existing standard communication (SC). During the intervention period, the SDMF will be implemented in clinic, and the HRA communication survey will be repeated. The primary outcome will be the family’s perception of success of communication with the care team, using a Likert scale. The two groups, SC and SDMF, will be compared by survey results using Wilcoxon. Interim analysis of the baseline communication survey show that 95% (n=79) of patients are completely satisfied with existing clinic communication. Given the high baseline satisfaction with communication, direct comparison between SC (conversation) and SDMF (conversation plus a written plan) questions were added to the survey. Creation of a unique SDMF tool incorporating principles of SDM has not been previously evaluated in pediatric HRA patients. Post-intervention surveys will allow for comparison of the SDMF tool to SC and allow for estimation of whether this novel written form has incremental benefit over existing communication practices.