| dc.description.abstract | Background: Decision making in health care forms the core of patient centered care that has
significantly gained ground as opposed to the biomedical model where patients take a passive
role in decision making. This study sought to assess the factors influencing participation in
decision making during health care among patients aged between 18-45 years in the Medical
Ward of Tororo Hospital between January 2018 and May 2018.
Methods: The study was a cross sectional study that involved 150 patients at Tororo
Hospital, Uganda. A Simple random sampling was used to sample the participants while data
collection was done using a researcher-developed questionnaire. Data analysis was performed
using SPSS version 20.
Results: The study demonstrated that the level of participation in decision making in this
study population was high. Various factors independently predict participation in decision
making, and these included: age, highest level of education attained, information sources on
the patients‘ right to participate in decision making and the patients‘ perceived style of
decision making at the health facility.
Recommendations: Various factors should be considered when designing and implementing
decision making as a core of patient centered care in routine care. Understanding the
correlates to patient involvement in decision making is seminal in designing interventions
aimed at encouraging HCP.
The ministry of health and the district health authorities; policies on decision making should
be incorporated in service delivery in Uganda so that every patient is encouraged to play an
active role in decision making. This will in turn result into better health outcomes. | en_US |
