Society for Medical Decision Making

During this webinar, we will discuss equity, what it is and isn’t, the role of equity in medical decision making and gaps in the literature. There will be a keynote presentation defining equity in the context of medical decision making, followed by parallel break out rooms with moderated discussions on how equity relates to:
- Shared decision-making (SDM), including discussion of the role of health literacy and the importance of engaging patients in decisions in the way they can understand.
- Patient Decision Aid development (PtDAs), including discussion of the importance of adapting PtDAs to ensure they meet the needs of end users
- Modelling including discussion of the importance of addressing equity in modelling to prevent bias in model-based medical decision making.

Webinar Program:

Welcome and Introductions - Jesse Jansen & Mary Politi

Presentation: Definition of equity and how it impacts MDM - Norah L Crossnohere

Break Out Room Discussion 1: Equity in shared decision-making conversations - Elisa Douglas & Frank Gavin

Break Out Room Discussion 2: Equity and accessibility in decision aids - Jesse Jansen & Karen Prantl

Break Out Room Discussion 3: Modelling: attending to equality and inclusion of biased on modelling - Anton Avanceña & Robin Wright-Jones

REGISTER NOW for FREE

Thursday 2 March 2023,

8:00 - 9:30 AM (PST) / 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM (EST) / 5:00 - 6:30 PM (CET)

Speakers:

Norah L Crossnohere, PhD

Assistant Professor @The Ohio State University

Norah L Crossnohere, PhD, is a patient-centered outcomes researcher who is passionate about measuring what matters most to patients and their loved ones. Dr. Crossnohere’s research areas include advancing methods for measuring patient and caregiver preferences; engaging patients to inform medical decision-making, and; evaluating health information technologies. Dr. Crossnohere has conducted this work in diverse clinical areas including primary care, cancer, pediatrics, and rare diseases. She is an editor of The Patient-Patient-Centered Outcomes Research journal, a two-time winner of the Lee Lusted Award at the Society for Medical Decision Making, and a member of the Alpha Delta Omega Public Health Honors Society.

Mary C. Politi, PhD

Professor @Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis

Dr. Politi’s primary research interests include health communication and shared decision-making. Her work helps patients and the public understand health information, explore what is important to them when making health decisions, and collaborate to make evidence-informed decisions that meet their needs. She also trains health care professionals, public health advocates, and members of the public interested in shared decision-making and patient engagement. Dr. Politi’s research includes a focus on reducing health disparities by engaging communities with unmet health needs and including them in both research and dissemination efforts. She has expanded her work to study the financial toxicity (burden of care costs) of health care and ways to offset the high costs of care through insurance decisions and discussions about cost-saving strategies. She works extensively with stakeholders to ensure her research is relevant to end users in clinical and community settings.

Ashley Housten, OTD, MSCI

Assistant Professor @Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis

Dr. Housten’s research is focused on supporting cancer screening and treatment decision-making to reduce health disparities and to address challenges associated with health literacy in diverse populations. Specifically, she is interested in the dissemination and implementation of decision support strategies to improve health behaviors and outcomes, particularly in populations that experience cancer-related health inequity. With a focus on how people evaluate and apply health information, her research uses qualitative and mixed-methods to identify challenges and opportunities to strengthen patient-provider engagement in decision-making across the cancer care continuum.

Anton Avanceña, PhD

Assistant Professor @The University of Texas at Austin, College of Pharmacy

Anton Avanceña is Assistant Professor of Health Outcomes and Internal Medicine at the University of Texas at Austin. A decision scientist by training, Anton studies how efficiency and equity in health can be improved. He leverages simulation modeling and economic evaluation techniques, among other methodologies, to understand the value of health technologies, clinical and population-level interventions, and large-scale policies. His recent work has focused on mental and behavioral health, particularly alcohol misuse, though he continues to do research in other clinical areas such as pediatrics, infectious diseases, and oncology. Anton received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where he was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholar.

Elisa E. Douglas, PhD, MSPH

Research Scientist @Decision Support Lab, Department of Health Services Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Elisa Douglas PhD is a research Scientist in the Decision Support Lab (a shared decision-making core facility) at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center in the Department of Health Services Research. Her work is focused primarily on creating high-quality decision support tools, such as PDAs, to help patients and providers work together in making health care decisions across the cancer spectrum, and has over 12 years of experience working directly with members of the public as a Director of Health and Nutrition. Education: PhD in Health Sciences with a specialization in Health Professions Leadership. Master’s degree in Public Health and bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES). Research Interests: Health Decision Science/ Implementation Science; Screening and Treatment of Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases; Patient-oriented Outcomes Research.

Frank Gavin, MA

Chair @Public Advisory Council Health Data Research Network Canada

Frank Gavin has been involved in health care and health research, as a patient, parent, and member of the public, for 28 years. He chaired the Family Advisory Committee at Toronto’s SickKids Hospital and directed the Citizen Engagement Program for CHILD-BRIGHT, a research network focused on children with brain-based developmental disorders. He was also a public member of the Canadian Drug Expert Committee and now chairs the Public Advisory Council of the Health Data Research Network (Canada). In 2017 he received the Best Patient Reviewer Award from the BMJ and has published articles in the BMJ, Healthy Debate, and Paediatrics and Child Health. For 30 years Frank taught English at Centennial College. He is a member of the SMDM Patient Advisory Council.

Jesse Jansen, PhD

Associate Professor @Family Medicine, Family Medicine, School for Public Health and Prim Care, Fac. Health, Medicine and Life Sciences

Dr Jesse Jansen, PhD, is a behavioural scientist who aims to achieve a better standard of healthcare that is sustainable, patient-centred and driven by evidence. She aims to accomplish this by increasing understanding of the potential benefits and harms of medical tests and treatments from the patient’s perspective, improving communication of medical information to patients and health care professionals, and developing strategies to support (shared) decision making. She has a background in cognitive and health psychology and her research is multidisciplinary. She was trustee on the board of the Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM) and co-chair of the Patient advisory council.

Senator (Ret.) Robin Wright-Jones

Executive Director @The Empowerment Network, Inc.

Senator (Ret.) Robin Wright-Jones was elected to the House of Representatives to fill an unexpired term in March 2002. While in the House, she served as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus from 2003 to 2007, and she served as Chair of the St. Louis Regional Caucus in 2004. Sen. Wright-Jones served as Chair of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus from 2007 to 2008, and the St. Louis City Caucus from 2007 to 2008. She currently is the Executive Director of The Empowerment Network, Inc., an organization dedicated to education, research, and the elimination of prostate cancer. She is a member of the SMDM Patient Advisory Coucil.

Karen Prantl

Policy officer @Needs assessment and patient participation Dutch Kidney Patients Association (NVN)

Karen Prantl is policy officer quality and research at the Dutch Kidney Patients Association (NVN). Her key focus is on patient participation and shared decision making. Together with different stakeholders and patients with limited health literacy she developed several visual decision support tools for to support patients with Kidney disease. She is a member of the SMDM Patient Advisory Coucil.