Supported Decision Making

Integrates research, theory, and practice in supported decision-making and describes implications for supports provision in the disability field.

The law has traditionally responded to cognitive disability by authorizing surrogate decision-makers to make decisions on behalf of disabled individuals. However, supported decision-making, an alternative paradigm for addressing cognitive disability, is rapidly gaining political support. According to its proponents, supported decision-making empowers individuals with cognitive challenges by ensuring that they are the ultimate decision-maker but are provided support from one or more others, giving them the assistance they need to make decisions for themselves. This article describes supported decision-making and its normative appeal. It then provides a descriptive account of how supported decision-making works based on the empirical literature on supported decision-making as well as that on shared decision-making, a related model used in medical contexts. The article shows how employing supported decision-making in lieu of guardianship, or integrating it into the guardianship system, has the potential to promote the self-determination of persons with intellectual and cognitive disabilities consistent with international and national legal norms. However, we find that, despite much rhetoric touting its advantages, little is known about how supported decision-making processes operate or about the outcomes of those processes. Further research is necessary to design and develop effective supported decision-making systems. We therefore propose a series of research questions to help inform policy choices surrounding supported decision-making.

This book examines choice and preference in the lives of people with disability, focusing on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It provides an overview of choice and examines foundational concepts related to choice and preference, including self-determination and supported decision making. Chapters examine a range of critical service and policy issues, such as guardianship, individualized funding, the health care system, and the situation regarding choices for people with disability in international contexts. In addition, chapters explore issues ranging from the development of preference and choice in childhood to choices in older age and end of life matters. It provides in-depth analysis of particular choices faced at different points across the lifespan. The book concludes with implications for policy and practice. Topics featured in this book include: Supported decision making for adults with intellectual disabilities or acquired brain injury. The role of parents and families in the development of choice-making skills. Preference assessments for individuals who cannot tell us what they prefer. Employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. Sexual and reproductive rights for people with intellectual disabilities. Disability and the choice to become a parent. Choice, Preference, and Disability is an essential resource for researchers, professors, clinicians, therapists, and other professionals as well as graduate students in the fields of developmental and positive psychology, rehabilitation, social work, special education, occupational, speech and language therapy, public health, and healthcare policy.

This is a book about how management and control decisions are made by persons who collaborate and possibly use the support of an information system. The decision is the result of human conscious activities aiming at choosing a course of action for attaining a certain objective (or a set of objectives). The act of collaboration implies that several entities who work together and share responsibilities to jointly plan, implement and evaluate a program of activities to achieve the common goals. The book is intended to present a balanced view of the domain to include both well-established concepts and a selection of new results in the domains of methods and key technologies. It is meant to answer several questions, such as: a) “How are evolving the business models towards the ever more collaborative schemes?”; b) “What is the role of the decision-maker in the new context?” c) “What are the basic attributes and trends in the domain of decision-supporting information systems?”; d) “Which are the basic methods to aggregate the individual preferences?” e)“What is the impact of modern information and communication technologies on the design and usage of decision support systems for groups of people?”.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognized that people with disabilities should have the right to exercise their legal capacity and identified 'supported decision-making' as a means by which people with disabilities can be directly involved in decisions that impact their lives. Offering an overview of its emergence in the disability field and highlighting emerging research, theory, and practice from legal, psychology, education, and health fields, this volume provides a much-needed theoretical and evidence base for supported decision-making. Evidence and strengths-based frameworks for understanding disability, supports, and their roles in promoting supported decision-making are synthesized. The authors describe the application of a social-ecological approach to supported decision-making, and focus on implications for building systems of supports based on current environmental demands. This volume introduces and explains empirical research on critical elements of supported decision-making and the applications of supported decision-making that enhance outcomes, including self-determination and quality of life.

This book examines theoretical considerations in the study of decision making as well as practical applications in social interpersonal domains for adolescents and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). It provides a history of the study of decision making in individuals with IDD and examines emerging views on decision making from a positive psychology perspective. The book explores the role of decision making in self-determination as well as offers global perspectives on the rights and responsibilities of individuals with IDD to engage in independent decision making. It outlines a framework for the study of decision making in individuals with IDD, reviews research that addresses the role of culturally diverse influences on individual decision making, and examines likely consequences of the etiological bases of disability on decision-making profiles. Key areas of coverage include: · Critical role of basic processes of cognition, motivation and self-beliefs, affect and emotion, and various styles of decision making. · Applications of decision-making skills within family and community contexts, in personal and social relationships, during transition to adulthood and more independent lifestyles, and in successful community living. · Self-protective decision making by individuals in situations of abuse as well as in resisting peer victimization and bullying. · Decision-making parameters for enabling maximum participation in self-decision making, through shared and supported decision making in contexts such as health care, aging, and end-of-life decisions. · Research-based interventions to improve effective decision making in individuals with IDD. Decision Making by Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities is a must-have reference for researchers, professors, and graduate students as well as clinicians and other professionals in the fields of developmental and positive psychology, rehabilitation, social work, special education, occupational, speech and language therapy, public health, and healthcare policy.

As effective organizational decision making is a major factor in a company's success, a comprehensive account of current available research on the core concepts of the decision support agenda is in high demand by academicians and professionals. Through 110 authoritative contributions by over 160 of the world's leading experts the Encyclopedia of Decision Making and Decision Support Technologies presents a critical mass of research on the most up-to-date research on human and computer support of managerial decision making, including discussion on support of operational, tactical, and strategic decisions, human vs. computer system support structure, individual and group decision making, and multi-criteria decision making.

Decision Support Systems: Frequently Asked Questions is the authoritative reference guide to computerized Decision Support Systems. Author Dan Power has spent almost 30 years building, studying and teaching others about computerized Decision Support Systems. Dr. Power is first and foremost a Decision Support evangelist and generalist. From his vantage point as editor of DSSResources.COM, he tracks a broad range of contemporary DSS topics. In this DSS FAQ, Dr. Power answers 83 frequently asked questions about computerized decision support systems. The FAQ covers a broad range of contemporary topics and the questions are organized into 8 chapters. DSS FAQ helps readers understand questions like: What is a DSS? What kind of DSS does Mr. X need? Does data modeling differ for a Data-Driven DSS? Is a Data Warehouse a DSS? Is tax preparation software an example of a DSS? What do I need to know about Data Warehousing/OLAP? What is a cost estimation DSS? What is a Spreadsheet-based DSS? Decision Support Systems: Frequently Asked Questions is a useful resource for IT specialists, students, professors and managers. It organizes important Ask Dan! questions (with answers) published in DSS News from 2000 through 2004.

Supported decision-making (SDM) allows individuals with disabilities to make choices about their own lives with support from a team of people they choose. Individuals with disabilities choose people they know and trust to be part of a support network to help with decision-making. Supported decision-making is an alternative to guardianship. Instead of having a guardian make a decision for the person with the disability, SDM allows the person with the disability to make his or her own decisions. Supported decision-making promotes self-determination, control, and autonomy. It fosters independence. We all engage in supported decision-making. We consult with family or friends, colleagues or classmates, mechanics or mentors before we make decisions. We may seek support to decide whether to go on a blind date, buy a used car, change jobs, renew a lease, or undergo cataract surgery. We confer and consult with others, and then we decide on our own.