Veterans' Views of a Shared Decision-Making Process: A Qualitative Substudy of REORDER

Abstract

The Recovery-Oriented Decisions for Relatives' Support (REORDER) intervention is an innovative, manualized protocol utilizing shared decision-making principles with military veterans who have serious mental illnesses to promote recovery and encourage consideration of family involvement in care. This treatment study by Dixon et al. (2014) compared REORDER to enhanced treatment as usual in a randomized design. This qualitative sub-study sought to understand the nuances of the decision-making process of including family members through in-depth interviews with veterans who were randomized to REORDER. The qualitative themes support the willingness of the interviewed veterans who have previously not included family members to situate themselves at the center of their care and deliberate through facilitated conversation, the pros and cons of involving family. REORDER brings a fresh perspective to adapting recovery principles into family-based interventions.