Paving the way: a roadmap to
the successful implementation
of shared decision-making
in heart valve disease

Global Heart Hub, the international alliance of heart patient organisations, has published an implementation roadmap, Paving the way: a roadmap to the successful implementation of shared decision-making in heart valve disease, created in collaboration with 19 international, multidisciplinary experts, including heart valve disease patients and advocates, along with cardiac surgeons, cardiologists, researchers and nurses.

Read the Roadmap

This global roadmap is designed to support patient organisations and advocates who wish to implement shared decision-making for people facing heart valve disease treatment options. Furthermore, it is designed to be applicable across different countries and health systems, but its practical applications may vary depending on local context.

Read the Roadmap

The vital role of shared decision-making in heart valve disease

Shared decision-making plays an integral role in improving peoples’ experience of care and their quality of life. It is an invitation for people receiving care to be actively engaged in an informed conversation and a collaborative process with their healthcare professional(s) to reach a joint decision about care. However, despite recommendations in several valvular heart disease clinical guidelines across the globe, too often, people living with heart valve disease are still not being optimally involved in conversations about their treatment options and preferences.

Shared decision-making has been shown to have several benefits, especially in terms of improving patient outcomes and experiences, such as increased knowledge, reduced uncertainty around choosing treatment options and greater satisfaction with care.