Beyond informed consent: A social work framework for authentic shared decision-making across the cancer survivorship continuum

The Promise and Reality of Shared Decision-Making Shareddecision-making (SDM) - the process where clinicians and patients collaborateto make healthcare decisions informed by best evidence and patient values - iswidely endorsed as the gold standard for patient-centered cancer care. Yetsignificant gaps persist between SDM as an aspirational concept and SDM aslived reality for patients navigating cancer survivorship. A Social WorkPerspective on Patient Empowerment As a Licensed Master Social Worker who servedas caregiver for my father during his seven-year Stage IV pancreatic NETjourney (2005-2012), worked in pediatric oncology at Texas Children's Hospital(2014-2016), and now leads patient empowerment initiatives nationally throughPatient Empowerment Network, I have witnessed how structural barriers, powerdynamics, and psychosocial factors profoundly shape patients' capacity toparticipate meaningfully in decisions affecting their care and survival. Thisposter presents a social work framework for understanding barriers to authenticSDM across the cancer survivorship continuum and proposes research prioritiesand practice interventions that move beyond rhetoric to genuine patientempowerment.