Shared Decision-making in Palliative and End-of-life Care in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.

Abstract

Patients and clinicians in the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) are often tasked with making high-stakes decisions about aggressive or life- sustaining therapies. Shared decision-making (SDM), a collaborative process where patients and clinicians work together to make medical decisions that are aligned with a patient's goals and values, is therefore highly relevant in the CICU, especially in the context of palliative or end-of-life decisions. Despite its importance, there are barriers to optimal integration and implementation of SDM. This review describes the fundamentals and models of SDM, the role of SDM in the CICU, and evidence-based strategies to promote SDM in the CICU.