Shared Decision-Making in Mental Health Care - SAMHSA Store ...

18Mental health care providers are assigned some responsibility for protecting thesafety of consumers and the public. However, the threat of involuntary treatment—whether real or perceived—colors the relationships and operations of the mentalhealth care field and must be minimized if consumers are to be fully engaged inSDM. Public perceptions of persons with mental illness as dangerous, and policysupport for some degree of coercion, will influence efforts to minimize involuntarytreatment.“We need to educate the public that mental illness is not a crime, and peoplewith mental illness are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of crime.”—SDM meeting participantShared Decision-Making in Mental Health Care:Practice, Research, and Future Directions