Shared decision making from the service users’ perspective: A narrative study from community mental health centers in northern Norway

• Published in: Social Work in Mental Health
• Main Authors: Klausen, Rita Kristin, Blix, Bodil Hansen, Lorem, Geir F., Karlsson, M., Haugsgjerd, Svein
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Social Work in Mental Health 2017
• Subjects: mental health; social work; health care; Norway; Northern Norway
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2460474; https://doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2016.1222981

This article aims to contribute to the understanding of shared decision making as an important aspect of user involvement in mental health care from the perspectives of service users. A thematic analysis of interviews with 25 individual service users in three different community mental health centers in Norway identified different understandings of shared decision making. Shared decision making was identified as essential in four contexts: 1) during admission, 2) in individualized treatment, 3) in different treatment contexts, and 4) in user-professional relationships. We consider shared decision making to be intertwined with treatment from the service user perspective.