Supported Decision Making: A Synthesis of the Literature across Intellectual Disability,Mental Health,and Aging

Supported decision making (SDM) has begun to receive significant attention as means to enable people to exercise autonomy and self-determination over decisions about their life. Practice frameworks that can be used to promote the provision of supports for decision making are needed. This paper integrates the literature across intellectual and developmental disability, mental health, and aging populations to synthesize issues that should be considered in future research on building systems of supports for SDM. The literature suggests that considering (a) contextual factors relevant to decision making, (b) environmental demands for decision making, and (c) supports needed for decision making is important in the context of considerations of promoting SDM, as is using operational definitions of decision making and supported decision making frameworks. While there has been theoretical and empirical work in each of these areas, no work has comprehensively brought together these areas specific to decision making across multiple life domains. Implications for future research and practice are provided.