gms | German Medical Science

Background: The project PSYCHENET, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, aims to improve mental health, especially by early recognition and sustainable treatment. In order to achieve these goals, amongst other things, affected people should be informed and educated via an internet portal http://www.psychenet.de/. A focus will be placed on so-called decision aids for preference-sensitive situations. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) can be a reliable tool to identify preference-sensitive treatment options, where evidence might be scarce or conflicting or several treatment options are offered.

Objectives: The aim of this project is to develop a generic framework for deriving decision aids from CPGs for involving patients in decision making in mental health care.

Methods: To achieve this, a first step must be to describe how preference-sensitive situations can be identified in CPGs for mental disorders. In a second step, a process map for the efficient development of web-based decision aids has to be formulated.

Results: Using the developed framework, current CPGs for six mental health conditions (depressive disorders, somatoform disorders, psychotic disorders, eating disorders, bipolar disorders, and anxiety disorders) will be reviewed to identify CPG recommendations with preference-sensitive decisions. Strategies for a generic format for drafting web-based decision aids will be derived.

Discussion: Using the generic framework for the development of specific decision aids within a web-based application could contribute to better involve patients in decision making in a cost-effective manner.