Public-Academic Partnerships: The Thresholds-Dartmouth Partnership and Research on Shared Decision Making

Abstract

Thresholds Rehabilitation Centers is one of the largest providers of psychiatric rehabilitation services in the United States, and the Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center is a highly regarded team of rehabilitation researchers. This column describes efforts to build upon the long-standing collaborative relationship between Thresholds (community partner) and Dartmouth (academic partner) to implement and study shared decision making in a community mental health care setting that serves an ethnoracially diverse population. Shared decision making encompasses a client-centered approach in which client and practitioner are equal partners. This joint project incorporates modern information technology, decision science, cultural competence, stakeholder collaboration, outcomes research, and training. The partnership itself provides an exemplar of shared decision making.