Shared decision making in health: reflections on political and regulatory incorporation in Brazil
Abstract
Objective: to analyze the incorporation of shared decision making in Brazilian public health policies and regulations that guide patients’ care, considering their interfaces with patient-centered care and patients’ rights. Development: reflection article that seeks to identify, in the two main national regulations that comprehensively address patients’ care, the Health Users’ Charter and the National Humanization Policy (NHP), the inclusion of the SDM (Shared Decision Making) model as an imperative ethical element during clinical care. Interactions between patients and health professionals are considered asymmetrical. To promote more symmetrical clinical encounters and health-related decisions that consider the patients’ needs and desires and drive the quality of care, global guidelines recommend the implementation of patient-centered care through shared decision making. Conclusion: The inclusion of the patients as active agents in the therapeutic decision making process in Brazil is not yet a reality. Shared decision making is a gap in national regulations and in the documents defining public health policies that comprehensively guide the clinical encounter.
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References
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