Collaborative decision-making is a term used when patient care decisions are shared between health workers of different backgrounds. Yet, current definitions of collaborative decision-making do not consistently describe the actions involved in the decision-making process or how the term relates to similar terms. This situation makes learning, teaching, and researching this concept difficult. Therefore, this review aims to clarify the concept of collaborative decision-making within interprofessional collaborative practice. Scoping review methodology was used to identify and select relevant literature. Four databases, were searched between Jan 2022 and December 2024 and included peer-reviewed articles that defined, described, or conceptualised collaborative decision-making or related terms. Extracted data were analysed with a concept analysis approach to develop a conceptualisation. Thirty-seven articles were analysed. Collaborative decision-making was conceptualised as a dynamic and iterative social and cognitive process involving two or more participants from different backgrounds who prioritise their time to discuss and agree on the next steps in patient care. This process includes four core actions: (1) sharing profession specific knowledge and perspectives, (2) integrating knowledge and perspectives to create new and shared knowledge, (3) deliberating over options, and (4) negotiating differences to reach agreement. This conceptualisation clarifies collaborative decision-making as a unifying term for how decisions are shared within interprofessional collaborative practice. It shows that many related terms draw on a common conceptual base. It therefore offers educators a language and framework for making collaborative decision-making explicit to learners and provides researchers with greater conceptual clarity. This review produced a contemporary conceptualisation of collaborative decision-making for others to use when learning, teaching and researching this key component of interprofessional collaborative practice.
Beckingsale et al. (Mon,) studied this question.