title: Allied health profession students' attitudes toward the patient role in treatment decision-making.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The concordance model of patient care requires decision-making to be a shared process whereby healthcare providers take patients' understanding of their illness and concerns into consideration. The extent to which providers involve patients in decision-making differs by discipline. In order for patients to receive better interdisciplinary care, the lack of congruence among providers to involve patients in decision-making must be addressed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the attitudes of students in nursing, respiratory care, and pharmacy toward concordance and whether attitudes differed across these three allied health professions.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional, exploratory design was used. Two hundred seventy-six students enrolled in four courses (2 nursing, 1 respiratory care, and 1 pharmacy) completed the LATCon II scale over a 4-week period. Reliability of the LATCon II scale was examined using Cronbach alpha. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were conducted using SPSS version 17.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred sixty-eight students participated in the study. Of them, 97.8% supported concordance, and no significant difference was found among the three professions. Few considered patients' contributions to be important or decision-making a mutual process. Demographic factors were not significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Students held positive attitudes toward concordance, and similar attitudes toward concordance bode well for interprofessional collaboration in healthcare. Strategies to improve concordance attitudes and practice need to be explored.
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, Arnold and Marie Schwartz Collegeof Pharmacy, Long Island University, Dept. of Psychology, Long Island University, One University Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA. hrahim@liu.edu
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rahim
authors.forename: Bupendra
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Ellen A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Crooks
authors.forename: Marly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caraballo
authors.forename: Frances
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Iacobellis
authors.forename: Jesal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jariwala
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016390:Allied Health Occupations / Q000193:education*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010358:Patient Participation; D013336:Students, Health Occupations / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult