Episode 2: Shared Decision Making

What does shared decision making mean? And why is it important?

In Episode 2 of Patient Power, we hear all about how shared decision making with your clinician and healthcare team leads to the best outcomes for all and why you should always ask questions.

Lyndal, Brad, Christie and Madison talk about some of the things patients and carers can do to ensure they are included as part of the healthcare team.

Julie also discusses why it is important to have the right resources for different communities to be able to be involved in decision-making.

Presenter: Julie McCrossin AM

Julie McCrossin gets people talking. After 20 years with ABC Radio National, ABC TV and Network Ten, she is now a freelance broadcaster and MC.

Julie was treated for HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer in 2013. Julie is an Ambassador for Targeting Cancer and TROG Cancer Research and a member of Cancer Voices SA. Julie hosts the podcast series, The Thing About Cancer and The Thing About Advanced Cancer for Cancer Council NSW. She has also produced and presented many videos in partnership with clinicians and advocates.

Julie has qualifications in the arts, education and law. In 2019, Julie was awarded an OAM for significant service to the community, particularly through LGBTIQ advocacy roles and to the broadcast media.

Guests

Professor Emerita Lyndal Trevena

Prof Lyndal Trevena is a GP and Professor Emerita at the University of Sydney. She commenced her academic career in 1999 after 13 years in clinical practice and has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers.

In 2022 she was listed in the top 2% of researchers in her field. Her research focuses on the implementation of evidence in practice, particularly through shared decision making.

She is on the International Patient Decision Aids Standards Committee and leads their communicating risk group.

She is a co-author on the Cochrane Review of patient decision aid trials and was named one of 25 Shared Decision Making Champions by the US Foundation for Informed Medical Decisions.

She advises the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare, the RACGP, Cancer Australia and state bodies, such as the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation and Safer Care Victoria. She provides pro bono clinical care at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Sydney.

Brad Rossiter OAM

Brad Rossiter is an outstanding health consumer representative and campaigner with Health Consumers NSW and a range of health-focused community groups on the South Coast of NSW.

Brad was diagnosed with diabetes as a child. He had an active childhood and qualified as a butcher. After a period on dialysis, Brad received a kidney and pancreas transplant. He is a double leg amputee and legally blind. This medical history makes Brad’s health advocacy, with the support of his beloved family, even more remarkable.

Among other activities, he is a Community Representative with Southern NSW Local Health District and Chair of the Eurobodalla Shire Council Disability and Inclusion Advisory Committee. Brad is co-founder of the Eurobodalla Renal Support Group and Organ Donor Awareness. In 2020 Brad was awarded an OAM for service to the community of the Eurobodalla.

Christie Ah-Fa

Christie Ah-Fa is a young widow and mother from Brisbane Queensland. She is a member of the Community Advisory Panel of the Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Clinical Trials Group (AGITG).

Christie is passionate about patient advocacy after her experience caring for her late husband Lei during his two years of treatment for pancreatic cancer. Christie was also a family advocate for her parents-in-law during their time passing in hospital.

Christie and her family experienced several challenges when receiving health care, including having informed consent, as well as cultural barriers as her husband and in-laws were from a Pacific Island background.

Christie hopes this series will help patients better understand their rights in terms of access to information and healthcare, informed consent and ensuring patients are equipped to advocate for themselves. Christie believes that quality of life objectives can be different for everyone and this needs to be better understood.

Madison Shakespeare

Madison Shakespeare is a member of the Community Advisory Panel of the Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Clinical Trials Group (AGITG).

Madison is an Indigenous lawyer, artist, filmmaker, poet, novelist and musician. She proudly identifies as a Gadigal salt water woman. She seeks through traditional lore practices and beliefs to live her life as a Custodian of Country and to address the impact of colonisation in Australia.

She is a lecturer in the Indigenous Major Degree in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts at Western Sydney University and at the Wollotuka Institute at the University of Newcastle.

Madison is part of an Indigenous Research Team at Flinders University and she engages in public health policy, medical and health equity research. She is a cultural education mentor. As the director of her multi-jurisdictional mobile law firm, Madison has provided legal advice to many First Nations clients.

Resources

Useful links

Shared decision making tips and tools
Top Tips for Safe Health Care booklet
Become involved in your own health
Questions to ask your doctor
Shared decision making support for frail older patients considering surgery
‘Finding Your Way’ is a culturally safe model for shared decision making with Aboriginal people
Choosing Wisely – 5 questions to ask your doctor or other healthcare provider before you get any test, treatment, or procedure (Links to wallet card, fact sheets and community language translations)
Finding good health information online (Links to booklet, poster, animation, Easy English version and community language translations)
Animation: Setting healthcare goals
Identifying goals of care: Tips for patients and consumers
HealthDirect: Question Builder
Shared decision making resources for consumers

Patient Power: Healthcare Rights and Positive Change is a Health Consumers NSW podcast and video series.

The series is supported by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.