Decision Aid to Facilitate Shared Decision Making During Treatment in Schizophrenia

We hypothesize that the use of a visual decision aid tool to educate patients regarding potential harm with respect to weight gain with olanzapine versus perphenazine can lead to better shared decision making by patients, increase rates of antipsychotic switches and promote weight loss in overweight patients with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder. Our specific aims are the following: 1. To investigate the effects of a visual decision aid, versus care as usual, on patients' perceived difficulties in medical decision making regarding switching antipsychotics in overweight veterans with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. 2. To investigate the effects of a visual decision aid and a shared decision making model on rate of medication switches (from olanzapine to perphenazine) in overweight veterans with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. 3. To investigate the effects of a visual decision making aid and shared decision making model on BMI in overweight veterans who switch from olanzapine to perphenazine therapy.