On June 25th 2009, CQI co-sponsored with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) its first policy summit: "Shared Decision Making in Mental Health Services: First Steps towards a Statewide Approach."  The full day event was held at Bentley University in Waltham, MA.  There were 100 people in attendance, including consumers, family members, state policy leaders, and providers.  Support for this summit was provided by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) Foundation’s Community Health Leaders program.

With Shared decision making (SDM), the practitioner and client collaborate to reach an agreement about healthcare decisions. Effective SDM occurs when 1) the practitioner is willing to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the client about the decision to be made, and 2) the client understands the likely outcomes of various treatment options, considers how each treatment’s risks and benefits may affect his/her life, and is interested in participating in treatment decisions.

This topic was chosen based on previous research by CQI, our awareness of the critical role of practitioner/client communication in the "person-centered" framework, and the important initial work on this topic by Drs. Pat Deegan and Robert Drake (professor of Psychiatry and Community and Family Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School.)

Breakout groups that centered around 5 significant issues for implementing SDM in Massachusetts mental health services included: five issues:
1.  The risks and rewards of SDM
2.  Creating clinical guidelines and policy to support SDM
3.  Supports and training for clients to engage in SDM
4.  Supports and training for service providers to engage in SDM with clients
5.  The role of peer support in SDM

See the blueprint for implementing SDM in Massachusetts mental health services.