Smart TECHnology for better shared decision making about prenatal testing for pregnant WomEn (TECH4WE)

Whether or not to undergo prenatal screening to assess the risk of certain genetic conditions in the fetus, and if so deciding among available prenatal screening tests, is a difficult decision faced by all pregnant women and their partners. However, few are aware of the implications of the various options. With shared decision making (SDM), patients and doctors share health decisions based on the pros and cons of all the options and on what matters most to the patient, so decisions reflect this knowledge and the preferences of those involved. SDM reduces decision regret and reduces overuse of diagnostic testing. A mobile app could be a cost-effective, and efficient way to help patients make decisions. My research (Rahimi.2017,PMID:28838306) found little evidence of the use of mobile apps to support SDM, and none that support prenatal testing decisions. I plan to: (a)assess the needs and preferences of pregnant women regarding using smartphones for information seeking and decision making; (b)develop an analytical decision making model that incorporates and processes information, preferences and choices (e.g. screening options, decision criteria and weighting of decision criteria); (c)with my technological partner, Greybox Solutions, develop an analytical app and pilot test it. TBC

Faculty Supervisor:

France Légaré

Student:

Partner:

Greybox Solutions Inc

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Other services (except public administration)

University:

Université Laval

Program: