Faster Insights: qualitative analysis of shared decision-making

Evidano is an AI-powered qualitative data analysis platform that converts interview and focus-group transcripts into theme maps, quote banks, and implementation-ready artifacts.

The PLOS study (30 June 2026) identified four priority shared decision-making (SDM) themes: intake and goal-setting, child versus parent involvement, therapy plan choices, and recurring SDM; these themes are high-value coding targets for implementation work.

A two-week pilot can import 4–10 transcripts into Evidano and produce a one-page executive brief, quote bank, and co-occurrence visualization for stakeholder use.

• Study design and sample: six focus groups (adolescents n=11, parents n=9, pediatric physical therapists n=6) plus a qualitative survey of 46 PPTs validated barriers and facilitators.
• Primary barriers identified: time constraints, balancing multiple perspectives, variable therapist communication skills, and practice revenue models limiting time.
• Primary facilitators identified: SDM adaptability to family context, supportive team culture, and home therapy enabling contextual tailoring.
• Practical approach: extract decision points (intake, goal talk, option talk, decision talk, evaluation), map themes to CFIR, and select matched implementation strategies (training, champions, workflow changes).

The study combined inductive thematic analysis of focus-group transcripts with deductive mapping of barriers and facilitators to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR).

The focus groups were sensitized in advance with a timeline exercise; sessions lasted about 120 minutes, were audio-recorded, and transcribed. Transcripts were coded with MAXQDA following SRQR standards. Phase 2 mapped themes onto van der Pol’s goal-based SDM model and selected implementation strategies using the CFIR-ERIC and Behavior Change Wheel tools.

• Key themes to extract from transcripts: intake and goal-setting; involvement level of child versus parent; choosing therapy plan (frequency, duration, homework, home context); SDM occurrences (informal session checks versus periodic evaluations).
• Main implementation barriers: time constraints, balancing multiple perspectives, variable therapist communication skills, practice revenue models limiting time.
• Main facilitators: SDM adaptability to family, supportive team culture, home therapy enabling contextual tailoring.

Run a rapid pilot to operationalize the study’s recommendations and prove value to stakeholders.

Day 1: Import 6–8 recorded intake sessions and related PROMs into Evidano; enable PII redaction.

Day 2–3: Auto-transcribe and run initial thematic extraction (goal-setting, child-involvement, home-context, time constraints).

Day 4: Build a small codebook reflecting the study’s four themes and apply AI-assisted coding across transcripts; review and adjust codes.

Day 5–7: Produce a one-page executive brief plus a quote bank and a co-occurrence network showing barriers versus facilitators.

Week 2: Hold a 30–60 minute stakeholder review; collect feedback and create a training micro-module based on the top three skill gaps identified.

Deliverable: an evidence-backed implementation checklist and a short training plan tied to extracted quotes and frequencies.

When analyzing sensitive healthcare transcripts, prioritize consent, PII redaction, and secure encryption, as the PLOS study restricted full transcripts to protect participant identity.

Research note: this post is for implementation and research purposes only; it is not clinical advice.

If your team is translating focus-group and intake transcripts into SDM training, policy change, or pilot interventions, apply a theme to CFIR to ERIC mapping and produce short, stakeholder-tailored artifacts such as quote banks, visual networks, and implementation checklists.

The PLOS study (30 June 2026) provides a tested goal-based SDM model and a list of realistic barriers, which are practical inputs for a rapid AI-enabled analysis.

Ready to try it? Upload a small corpus (4–10 transcripts) to Evidano, run the thematic and cross-segment analysis, and generate a one-page implementation brief you can use in team meetings. For a free account, Try Evidano for free. For clinical research, always confirm consent and anonymization before upload.