Recently, there was an excellent introduction to Shared Decision Making (SDM) in the Medical Journal of Australia. SDM is a very important concept, and sadly, it is rarely encountered in medical practice at this time.
A useful precis appears in the MJA article:
"Shared decision making enables a clinician and patient to participate jointly in making a health decision, having discussed the options and their benefits and harms, and having considered the patient's values, preferences and circumstances. It is not a single step to be added into a consultation, but a process that can be used to guide decisions about screening, investigations and treatments."
Shared Decision Making: What clinicians need to know and why should they bother.