Every person deserves to be part of decisions about their own health
The SDM Navigator supports shared decision-making in healthcare. It provides resources that are person-centred, health-literacy informed, co-designed with patients, and available in multiple languages.
What is shared decision-making?
More than information. This is a partnership in your care.
Shared Decision-Making (SDM) is not just about explaining options. It is about recognising that every person brings their own goals, values, life circumstances, culture and preferences to a healthcare decision. These matter just as much as clinical evidence.
When healthcare decisions are made together, care becomes more personalised, more equitable, and more aligned with what people actually want from their health and their life.
This website is for information only. It is designed to help you prepare for a conversation with your healthcare team, not to replace that conversation or provide medical advice. Your doctor will discuss your specific situation with you and help you make a decision that is right for you.
"Healthcare decisions should not be made alone. The best decisions are made when patients, carers and clinicians work together."
Health equity and personalised care
Not everyone starts from the same place
Healthcare decisions are shaped by many factors — including health literacy, language, culture, frailty, lived experience, family involvement and access to care. Without intentional support, these factors can exclude people from meaningful participation in decisions about their own health.
SDM Navigator was built with this in mind. Every resource on this site has been:
Co-designed with patients
Developed alongside patients and carers — not just for them.
Health literacy informed
Written in plain language, tested for readability and understanding.
Available in 11 languages
Translated to reach communities across Western Sydney and beyond.
Understanding Shared Decision Making
Watch and share
The SDM Navigator video was developed by the Centre for Shared Decision Making (Center for Fælles Beslutningstagning) at Lillebaelt Hospital, Vejle, Denmark.
Together, we have translated it into ten languages to help make shared decision-making more accessible to patients around the world.
A practical guide for the conversation
The ALL BRAN framework
The ALL BRAN framework was developed to guide shared decision-making conversations. It builds on the BRAN questions — originally promoted through the Choosing Wisely movement — by adding Ask, Listen and Learn first, so that what matters to the patient shapes the entire discussion.
Ask · Listen · Learn
Understand what matters most to this person before anything else
Benefits
What this treatment or option may offer
Risks
What it involves and what could go wrong
Alternatives
Other options, including no treatment
Natural progression
Other options, including no treatment
Who these resources are for
Built for patients, carers and communities
The resources on this site are not clinician tools. They are for people facing healthcare decisions, their families and carers, and anyone who wants to better understand their options and their rights.
If you are a clinician looking for SDM implementation tools and documentation support, visit the Clinician section.
SDM is relevant to any significant healthcare decision — not just surgery. This includes chemotherapy, cardiac procedures, dialysis, aged care planning, palliative care, and more. It is led by your doctors or specialists and may involve nurses, allied health staff, and your family.