Provider Perspectives on Advance Care Planning for Patients with Kidney Disease: Whose Job Is It Anyway?

Navigating chronic uncertainty: a theory synthesis for nursing communication in life-limiting illness

BACKGROUND

Despite the proven benefits of early palliative care, patient communication regarding these services remains elusive. Therefore, this paper aims to (a) provide a focused literature review on nurse palliative care communication addressing chronic uncertainty in life-limiting illness (LLI), (b) define the Reconceptualization of Uncertainty in illness Theory and Problematic Integration Theory within a nursing Unitary Caring Science philosophical worldview and, (c) synthesize these theories and literature review into a unique theoretical framework for early palliative care communication in acute care nursing.

METHOD

Turner's theory synthesis methodology was combined with a PRISMA-style literature review. The literature search was conducted in July 2023 and updated in May 2024 using EBSCOhost, Pubmed, and PsychINFO databases. A second literature search was undertaken to identify applicable uncertainty theories in chronic or LLIs.

RESULTS

This theory synthesis highlights the interconnectedness of all facets of uncertainty for those living with severe LLI (personal factors, types of uncertainty, and the nursing communicatory process) and conceptualizes uncertainty communication as a series of events happening simultaneously, not simply a cause-and-effect process.

DISCUSSION

The framework resulting from this synthesis encourages nurses' holistic understanding of the complex nature of uncertainty in LLI, highlights the integral communicatory role nurses have in their patients' health and wellness, and promotes further nursing-specific communication research. Future research on enabling nurse-initiated early palliative care communication and narrative communication techniques will support patients' values and dignity throughout more than a single hospital stay but their entire disease trajectory.

Making advance care planning easier for adults with kidney disease and their clinicians

Advance care planning (ACP) has evolved from a narrow focus on end-of-life preference, such as resuscitation, to a continuum of care planning across the life course. Older adults with kidney disease have high morbidity and mortality, and easy-to-use tools can make ACP easier for patients and clinicians.

Development of a Resource for Health Professionals to Raise Advance Care Planning Topics During Kidney Care Consultations: A Multiple User-Centered Design

Rationale & Objective

Planning and delivering treatment pathways that integrate end-of-life care, frailty assessment, and enhanced supportive care is a service priority. Despite this, people with kidney failure are less likely to have an advance care plan and receive hospice and palliative care compared with other chronic illness populations. This is linked to health professionals feeling unskilled initiating conversations around future treatment and care options. This article describes research underpinning the development of a guide for kidney health professionals discussing end-of-life and advance care planning options with people with kidney failure and family members.

Study Design

The study comprised 2 parts: an initial cross-sectional qualitative approach using in-depth interviews with older adults with kidney failure and (bereaved) carers followed by resource development with input from multiple stakeholders.

Setting & Participants

Older adults with kidney failure and (bereaved) carers recruited from 2 renal units in the North of England and by online advertisements with national United Kingdom-based kidney patient charities. Resource development included input from co-applicants, independent advisory committee, patient and public involvement team, multidisciplinary health professionals and academics in the United Kingdom and Denmark.

Analytical Approach

Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.

Results

Twenty-seven people were interviewed: older adults with kidney failure (n = 18), carers (n = 5), bereaved carers (n = 4). Five themes are described: the context within which end-of-life conversations take place, preferences for end-of-life treatment and care, family members' role and needs in supporting people with kidney failure at the end-of-life, expectations and experience of dialysis treatment, and beliefs and experiences of death and dying.

Limitations

Participants were mainly White, British, and receiving hemodialysis.

Conclusions

People with (lived) experience of kidney failure informed a guide which aims to build on health professionals existing skills and improve confidence having conversations about future treatment and care. Kidney teams have expressed interest implementing the guide in practice and within their broader communications training packages.

Perspectives on the optimal timing of advance care planning among Japanese patients undergoing dialysis and clinicians: a cross-sectional study

KEY MESSAGES

The majority of dialysis patients and clinicians favor early advance care planning in our sample. Yet, there is a disconnect: only 11% of patients discussed future care with their clinicians. Our findings indicate Japanese dialysis patients and clinicians support proactive advance care planning at or before dialysis initiation.

BACKGROUND

Little is known about the optimal timing of discussions about advance care planning among dialysis patients and clinicians engaged in dialysis care. We aimed to explore the preferred timing for advance care planning and assess actual participation in advance care planning among dialysis patients and their clinicians.

METHODS

A scenario-based survey on Japanese patients aged ≥65 years on dialysis and clinicians involved in their dialysis care was performed. Participants were asked if they would feel prepared to engage in advance care planning with their clinicians, offering a choice among four hypothetical stages within the illness trajectory, extending from the initiation of dialysis to a later phase characterized by the patient's extreme frailty.

RESULTS

Overall, 181 patients and 128 clinicians participated in the study. Among these, 131 (72%) patients, and 84 (66%) clinicians indicated that they would prefer to initiate advance care planning around the time of dialysis initiation. Only 20 patients (11%) indicated that they had participated in advance care planning with at least one clinician, including 11 (6%) who indicated that they had discussed their preferences around life-sustaining treatments and 8 (4%) who had discussed their preferences around dialysis continuation.

CONCLUSIONS

While fewer than 11% of patients undergoing dialysis and their clinicians enrolled in our study had participated in advance care planning, most indicated that they would be comfortable initiating the discussion around the time of dialysis initiation. These findings suggest untapped opportunities to engage patients in advance care planning early in the course of their dialysis.

Advance care planning for patients with end-stage kidney disease on dialysis: narrative review of the current evidence, and future considerations

Patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) have a high symptom-burden and high rates of morbidity and mortality. Despite this, evidence has shown that this patient group does not have timely discussions to plan for deterioration and death, and at the end of life there are unmet palliative care needs. Advance care planning is a process that can help patients share their personal values and preferences for their future care and prepare for declining health. Earlier, more integrated and holistic advance care planning has the potential to improve access to care services, communication, and preparedness for future decision-making and changing circumstances. However, there are many barriers to successful implementation of advance care planning in this population. In this narrative review we discuss the current evidence for advance care planning in patients on dialysis, the data around the barriers to advance care planning implementation, and interventions that have been trialled. The review explores whether the concepts and approaches to advance care planning in this population need to be updated to encompass current and future care. It suggests that a shift from a problem-orientated approach to a goal-orientated approach may lead to better engagement, with more patient-centred and satisfying outcomes.

"Systems seem to get in the way": a qualitative study exploring experiences of accessing and receiving support among informal caregivers of people living with chronic kidney disease

BACKGROUND

The well-being of informal caregivers of people living with chronic kidney disease is influenced by their experiences with support, however, few studies have focused on exploring these experiences. This study aimed to explore informal caregivers' experiences accessing and receiving support while caring for someone living with chronic kidney disease.

METHODS

Informal caregivers of people living with chronic kidney disease (n = 13) in the United Kingdom were primarily recruited via community organisations and social media adverts to participate in semi-structured interviews. Interviews explored support needs, experiences of receiving support from different groups (e.g. healthcare professionals, family/friends), and barriers and facilitators to accessing support. Support was understood as including emotional, practical, and informational support. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Three themes were generated: (1) "Systems seem to get in the way" - challenges within support systems, illustrating the challenges informal caregivers encountered when navigating complex support systems; (2) Relying on yourself, describing how informal caregivers leveraged their existing skills and networks to access support independently, while recognising the limitations of having to rely on yourself to find support; and (3) Support systems can "take the pressure off", showing how support systems were able to help informal caregivers cope with the challenges they experienced if certain conditions were met.

CONCLUSIONS

In response to the challenges informal caregivers experienced when seeking support, improvements are needed to better consider informal caregiver needs within healthcare systems, and to develop interventions tailored to informal caregiver needs and context. Within the healthcare system, informal caregivers may benefit from system navigation support and better integration within healthcare teams to ensure their informational support needs are met. New interventions developed to support informal caregivers should fit within their existing support systems and incorporate the qualities of support, such as empathy, that were valued. Additionally, use of an equity framework and user-centered design approaches during intervention development could help ensure interventions are accessible and acceptable.

Shared Decision-Making and Patient Communication in Nephrology Practice

Shared decision-making (SDM) is the standard of care for patient or surrogates and their clinicians to arrive at a medical decision. Evidence suggests that SDM increases patients' understanding of their illness and satisfaction with their decision-making process. Dialysis patients often report the perception that they were passive participants in the decision to start dialysis, suggesting further opportunities for enhancing the application of SDM in decision-making with patients with kidney disease. The hallmark feature of SDM is sensitive, culturally- and equity-informed communication and effective partnership between patient or surrogate and clinician. In the process, the patient's personal expertise in the realm of their values and priorities is elicited, and the clinician's medical expertise is shared. The integration of this shared expertise then leads to an informed treatment decision. Frameworks such as the Serious Illness Conversation Guide and REMAP are guides for the SDM process, and communication tools and mnemonics can help facilitate SDM conversations. This paper will address SDM in nephrology practice, reviewing underlying supportive evidence, context, and timing for employing SDM in the trajectory of chronic kidney disease and acute kidney injury, special considerations in vulnerable populations to promote health equity, and communication tools and frameworks to facilitate the SDM process. By learning and applying these frameworks and tools, nephrology providers will be able to employ SDM in the management of kidney disease.

Decision coaching for people with kidney failure: A case study

BACKGROUND

Little is known about the usefulness of decision coaching for people with kidney failure facing decisions about end-of-life care.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate experiences of people with kidney failure who received decision coaching for end-of-life care decisions.

DESIGN

We conducted a prospective case study bound by time (September to December 2021), location (one nephrology department), and guided by the Ottawa Decision Support Framework.

PARTICIPANTS

Adults with kidney failure facing end-of-life care decisions.

MEASUREMENTS

A nurse trained in decision coaching screened for unmet decisional needs with the SURE test and provided decision coaching using the Ottawa Personal Decision Guide. Postcoaching, the participants were rescreened using the SURE test and interviewed to explore their experience with decision coaching. Change in SURE test findings was analysed descriptively and systematic text condensation was used for the analysis of interviews. Recorded decision coaching sessions underwent content analysis using the Decision Support Analysis Tool.

RESULTS

Decision coaching was provided to four adults with kidney failure. Median pre-SURE test score was 2.5 (range 2-4) and posttest score was 3 (range 3-4), indicating a decrease in decisional needs. Participants described that decision coaching provided an overview of features of options to consider, identified remaining decisional needs for further discussion with relatives and health professionals and clarified next steps. Median Decision Support Analysis Tool score was 9 (range 8-9).

CONCLUSIONS

After decision coaching, results suggest that the participants experienced fewer decisional needs and seemed clearer about the next steps in the decision making process.

The Role of Palliative Care in Heart Failure, Part 4: A Framework for Collaboration in Advance Care Planning

Background: Palliative care integration into cardiology is growing, allowing primary cardiology care teams increasing opportunities to utilize palliative care to support processes such as advance care planning (ACP). Objective: The aim of the study is to understand perspectives of cardiac care team members about the involvement and impact of palliative care on ACP in heart failure. Design: A qualitative study using a semistructured interview guide was performed. Settings/Subjects: Interviews were conducted with cardiac care team members, including cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, and nurse practitioners, at a large academic medical center in the United States with an integrated cardiac palliative care team. Measurements: Deductive and inductive thematic analysis of interview transcripts enabled characterization of themes around the role of palliative care in ACP. Results: Two themes were identified with regard to providers' perspectives about ACP: (1) different levels of comfort with initiating and conducting ACP conversations and (2) different opinions about the desired role of palliative care in the ACP process. In exploring these themes, we characterized four distinct approaches to ACP with palliative care as a novel framework for planning consultation. Conclusions: The different approaches to ACP and the implications for how cardiac providers interact with the palliative care team present an important opportunity to guide ACP consultation in practice. Adoption of this framework may help cardiac providers enhance the process of care delivery and ACP in important ways that improve care for their patients.

Advance care planning to patients with chronic kidney disease and their families: An intervention development study

AIM

To develop an advance care planning intervention based on the needs of patients with chronic kidney disease, families and healthcare professionals.

BACKGROUND

Patients with chronic kidney disease and their families request early advance care planning that continues throughout their illness trajectory. Healthcare professionals experience barriers to initiating advance care planning. Involvement of stakeholders in development of health interventions is important, to identify priorities, understand the problem and find solutions.

METHOD

The development was inspired by the Medical Research Council's framework, and codesign was applied. One future workshop and one design workshop were conducted with the consumers. The process was iterative, and data were analysed using the action research spiral. The Guidance for reporting intervention development studies in healthcare (GUIDED) was used.

RESULTS

Five areas were considered significant to an advance care planning intervention; a biopsychosocial approach, early palliative care, a family-focused approach, early and continuous advance care planning and a consumer-centred approach. Based on these, a conversation process with healthcare professionals was designed to give patients and families the opportunity to share values, preferences and wishes for treatment and their family and everyday life.

CONCLUSION

Codesign facilitated a collaborative process that allowed the consumers to have a significant impact on the design of an advance care planning intervention. A conversation process concerning everyday life, illness and treatment was designed for patients and families. The intervention included an advance care planning tool to guide the healthcare professionals.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

The intervention has the intention to improve the communication between healthcare professionals, patients and families. The study provides important knowledge about the significance of giving the patients and their families support in sharing their values, preferences and wishes for treatment and everyday life, thus, to improve care and treatment in their illness trajectory.

IMPACT

What problem did the study address Patients with chronic kidney disease and their families strongly request early initiation of advance care planning that continues throughout the illness trajectory. Healthcare professionals experience barriers to the initiation of the advance care planning and request a more systematic approach. What were the main findings Development of a conversation process about everyday life, illness and treatment for patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and families, including an advance care planning tool to guide the healthcare professionals. Where and on whom will the research have an impact The study contributes an advance care planning intervention to patients in the early stages of chronic kidney disease and their families. We believe that the intervention could be included during consultations with healthcare professionals in other stages of chronic kidney disease as well as other chronic disease.

REPORTING METHOD

To strengthen the reporting of the development of the advance care planning intervention, we used the Guidance for reporting intervention development studies in healthcare (GUIDED).

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

The development of the intervention in this study was a collaborative process between patients, families, healthcare professionals and representatives from the Danish Kidney Association, the department's user council and the research team.

Fighting Fires and Battling the Clock: Advance Care Planning in Family Medicine Residency

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Few family physicians treating patients with life-limiting illness report regularly initiating advance care planning (ACP) conversations about illness understanding, values, or care preferences. To better understand how family medicine training contributes to this gap in clinical care, we asked how family medicine residents learn to engage in ACP in the workplace.

METHODS

We coded semistructured interviews with family medicine residents (n=9), reflective memos (n=9), and autoethnographic field notes (n=37) using a constructivist-grounded theory approach. We next used the constant comparative method of grounded theory to develop two composite narratives describing participants' experiences that we then member-checked with participants.

RESULTS

We identified six core categories of social process to describe how participants were taught to engage in advance care planning. These social processes included previously unidentified barriers to ACP that were specific to their role as learners. These barriers appeared to lead to cultural avoidance of prognosis, conflation of ACP and goals of care (GOC) conversations, and deferral of difficult conversations to nonprimary care settings.

CONCLUSIONS

Family medicine educators should consider developing interventions such as flexible clinic schedules, dedicated ACP time, deliberate observed practice, and structured teaching to address potential barriers identified in this exploratory research. Family medicine leaders may wish to consider directly teaching residents and preceptors about crucial differences between ACP and GOC discussions. Shifting curricular focus toward eliciting values and illness understanding during ACP could help resolve a cultural avoidance of prognosis that limits family medicine residents' attempts to engage in ACP.

Nephrology-Palliative Care Collaboration to Promote Outpatient Hemodialysis Goals of Care Conversations

Background

Goals of care conversations and corresponding life-sustaining treatment (LST) progress notes were completed for only one-fourth of patients on outpatient dialysis despite hospital-wide training with nephrologists at the Edward Hines, Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase completion of LST progress notes and corresponding orders among patients on dialysis through an interdisciplinary nephrology-palliative care collaboration.

Observations

The nephrology and palliative care departments began an interdisciplinary collaboration for nephrology to consult palliative care to initiate goals of care conversations and complete LST progress notes with patients on dialysis. A coordinated workflow process was created that included multidisciplinary efforts for patient selection, patient education, and introduction and completion of goals of care conversations for patients on dialysis. Completion rates for LST notes increased from 27% to 81% following the 13-month intervention, with 69 of 85 patients having a documented LST progress note.

Conclusions

A collaboration between nephrology and palliative care increased high-quality LST progress note completion. The next steps include expanding these collaborations at other dialysis units and evaluating the impact on patient outcomes.

A Pilot Study of the Serious Illness Conversation Guide in a Dialysis Clinic

Clinician-led conversations about future care priorities occur infrequently with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on dialysis. This was a pilot study of structured serious illness conversations using the Serious Illness Conversation Guide (SICG) in a single dialysis clinic to assess acceptability of the approach and explore conversation themes and potential outcomes among patients with ESRD. Twelve individuals with ESRD on dialysis from a single outpatient dialysis clinic participated in this study. Participants completed a baseline demographics survey, engaged in a clinician-led structured serious illness conversation, and completed an acceptability questionnaire. Conversations were recorded, transcribed and thematically analyzed. The average age of participants was 68.8 years. The conversations averaged 20:53 in length. Ten participants (83%) felt that the conversation was held at the right time in their clinical course and eleven participants (91%) felt that it was worthwhile. Most participants (73%) reported neutral feelings about clinician use of a printed guide. Eleven participants (91%) reported no change in anxiety about their illness following the conversation, and five participants (42%) reported that the conversation increased their hopefulness about future quality of life. Thematic analysis revealed common perspectives on dialysis including that participants view in-center hemodialysis as temporary, compartmentalize their kidney disease, perceive narrowed life experiences and opportunities, and believe dialysis is their only option. This pilot study suggests that clinician-led structured serious illness conversations may be acceptable to patients with ESRD on dialysis. The themes identified can inform future serious illness conversations with dialysis patients.

Kidney Clinicians' Perceptions of Challenges and Aspirations to Improve End-Of-Life Care Provision

Introduction

End-of-life care is an essential part of integrated kidney care. However, renal clinicians' experiences of care provision and perceptions of end-of-life care needs are limited. This study explored renal clinicians' experiences of providing end-of-life care and developed recommendations to improve experiences.

Methods

An exploratory qualitative study using semistructured focus groups and 1 interview was undertaken at 5 kidney services in Victoria, Australia. The transcripts were analyzed thematically.

Results

Between February and December 2017, 54 renal clinicians (21 doctors and 33 nurses) participated in the study. Clinicians reported multiple challenges of end-of-life care experiences resulting in compromised treatment planning and decision making and highlighted priorities to guide better care experiences. Challenges of providing end-of-life care were underpinned by mismatches in illness and treatment expectations, limited engagement in advance care planning, medical complexity, and differences between clinicians and patients in what constituted quality of life. These challenges were associated with compromised end-of-life care planning, which resulted in care experiences that were rushed with a prolonged treatment focus, risking limited preparation for death and moral distress. Clinicians aspired for positive end-of-life care experiences, including patient control and consensus in decision making, and a coordinated and collaborative approach across healthcare providers.

Conclusions

Renal clinicians highlighted multiple factors and circumstances which resulted in experiences of compromised end-of-life care for patients with kidney disease. To improve care experiences, clinician-directed priorities included more training and support to facilitate systematic and earlier discussions about illness expectations and end-of-life care planning and greater communication and collaboration across healthcare providers is required.

Experiences and perspectives of healthcare professionals implementing advance care planning for people suffering from life-limiting illness: a systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies

BACKGROUND

Life-limited patients may lose decision-making abilities during disease progression. Advance care planning can be used as a discussion method for healthcare professionals to understand patients' future care preferences. However, due to many difficulties, the participation rate of healthcare professionals in advance care planning is not high.

AIM

To explore the facilitators of and barriers to healthcare professionals' provision of advance care planning to life-limited patients to better implement it for this population.

METHODS

We followed ENTREQ and PRISMA to guide this study. We conducted a systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, CNKI, and SinoMed to include qualitative data on the experiences and perspectives of healthcare professionals in different professional fields in providing advance care planning for life-limited patients. The Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research was used to assess the quality of the included studies.

RESULTS

A total of 11 studies were included. Two themes were identified: unsupported conditions and facilitative actions. Healthcare professionals regarded cultural concepts, limited time, and fragmented record services as obstacles to implementation. They had low confidence and were overly concerned about negative effects. They needed to possess multiple abilities, learn to flexibly initiate topics, and facilitate effective communication based on multidisciplinary collaboration.

CONCLUSION

Healthcare professionals need an accepting cultural environment to implement advance care planning, a sound legal system, financial support, and a coordinated and shared system to support them. Healthcare systems need to develop educational training programs to increase the knowledge and skills of healthcare professionals and to promote multidisciplinary collaboration to facilitate effective communication. Future research should compare the differences in the needs of healthcare professionals in different cultures when implementing advance care planning to develop systematic implementation guidelines in different cultures.

Advance Care Planning, Shared Decision Making, and Serious Illness Conversations in Onconephrology

Advance care planning, shared decision making, and serious illness conversations are communication processes designed to promote patient-centered care. In onconephrology, patients face a series of complex medical decisions regarding their care at the intersection of oncology and nephrology. Clinicians who aim to ensure that patient preferences and values are integrated into treatment planning must work within a similarly complex care team comprising multiple disciplines. In this review, we describe key decision points in a patient's care trajectory, as well as guidance on how and when to engage in advance care planning, shared decision making, and serious illness discussions. Further research on these processes in the complex context of onconephrology is needed.

Kidney failure end-of-life care: impact of advance care planning - retrospective observational study

OBJECTIVES

Patients with kidney failure (KF) have poor prognosis yet receive aggressive medical interventions at the end of life. Advance care planning (ACP) aims to respect patients' treatment preference and facilitate good death, though whether these are achieved in KF is unknown.This study examines the utility of ACP for end-of-life care in KF patients.

METHODS

A retrospective observational study of KF patients who completed an ACP document 2012-2019 and died in an Australian hospital. Medical records were reviewed to assess treatment concordance to the ACP document and quality of end-of-life care received.

RESULTS

65 KF patients (29 dialysis, 36 conservative) had a median age of 84 years and 57% males. 86% of deaths followed an emergency admission. ACP documents recorded patients' preference to avoid cardiopulmonary resuscitation (91%) and forego dialysis (86%). 95% patients received treatment concordant with ACP. One patient was resuscitated, and one conservative patient dialysed. A good quality death was achieved for most, including dialysis withdrawal (80%), palliative care referral (88%), discussion of prognosis (95%), rationalised medications (89%) and anticipatory end-of-life medications (92%).

CONCLUSION

ACP documents are useful facilitating treatment concordant with KF patients' preferences. Most patients avoided aggressive medical interventions and received good quality end-of-life care.

Clinicians' Perceptions of Collaborative Palliative Care Delivery in Chronic Kidney Disease

CONTEXT

Guidelines recommend palliative care for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), who experience a high pain and symptom burden, and receive intensive treatments that often do not align with their values. A lack of scalable specialty palliative care services has prompted calls for attention to primary palliative care, delivered in primary care and nephrology settings.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study were to 1) describe expectations for care to meet the palliative care needs of people living with CKD, and limitations to meeting those expectations in the current model, and 2) identify potential interventions to meet patients' palliative care needs.

METHODS

We conducted semi-structured interviews with clinicians from primary care, nephrology, and palliative care to assess 1) reasonable expectations for meeting palliative needs, 2) barriers to integrating primary palliative care, and 3) potential intervention points.

RESULTS

Clinicians discussed their expectations for high-quality communication (e.g., discussing disease understanding, assessing goals of care) and better integration of palliative care services. Clinicians expressed barriers to delivering that care, including poor inter-clinician communication. To address barriers, clinicians outlined potential intervention points, such as building collaborative models of care, and structural triggers to identify patients who may be appropriate for palliative care.

CONCLUSION

Interventions to address gaps in palliative care delivery for people living with CKD should incorporate systematic identification of patients with palliative care needs and structural mechanisms to meeting those needs via specialty and primary palliative care.

Chronic kidney disease in Ecuador: An epidemiological and health system analysis of an emerging public health crisis

The absence of a chronic kidney disease (CKD) registry in Ecuador makes it difficult to assess the burden of disease, but there is an anticipated increase in the incidence of CKD along with increasing diabetes, hypertension and population age. From 2012, augmented funding for renal replacement therapy expanded dialysis clinics and patient coverage. We conducted 73 in-depth sociological interviews with healthcare providers in eight provinces and collected quantitative epidemiological data on patients with CKD diagnoses from six national-level databases between 2015 and 2018. Datasets show a total of 17,484 dialysis patients in 2018, or 567 patients per million population (pmp), with an annual cost exceeding 11% of Ecuador’s public health budget. Each year, there were 139–162 pmp new dialysis patients, while doctors reported waiting lists. The number of patients on peritoneal dialysis was static; those on hemodialysis increased over time. Only 13 of 24 provinces were found to have dialysis services, and nephrologists were clustered in major cities, which limits access, delays medical attention, and adds a travel burden on patients. Prevention and screening programs are scarce, while hospitalization is an important reality for CKD patients. CKD is an emerging public health crisis that has increased dramatically over the last decade in Ecuador and is expected to continue, making coverage for all patients impossible and the current structure, unsustainable. A patient registry would help health policymakers and administrators estimate the demand and progression of patients with consideration for comorbidities, disease stage, requirements and costs, mortality and follow-up. This should be used to help identify where to focus prevention and improved treatment efforts. Organized monitoring of CKD patients would benefit from improvements in patient referral. Community-based education and prevention programs, the strengthening of primary healthcare capacity (including basic routine tests) and improved nephrology services are also urgently needed.

Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Solid Organ Transplantation

Solid organ transplantation (SOT) is a life-saving procedure for people with end-stage organ failure. However, patients experience significant symptom burden, complex decision making, morbidity, and mortality during both pre- and post-transplant periods. Palliative care (PC) is well suited and historically underdelivered for the transplant population. This article, written by a team of transplant specialists (surgeons, cardiologists, nephrologists, hepatologists, and pulmonologists), PC clinicians, and an ethics specialist, shares 10 high-yield tips for PC clinicians to consider when caring for SOT patients.

Completion of advance directives among African Americans and Whites adults

OBJECTIVE

The primary purpose of this study was to analyze the completion of advance directives among African American and White adults and examine related factors, including demographics, socio-economic status, health conditions, and experiences with health care providers.

METHODS

This study used data from the Survey of California Adults on Serious Illness and End-of-Life 2019. We compared correlates of completion of advance directives among a sample of 1635 African American and White adults. Multivariate analysis was conducted.

RESULTS

Whites were 50% more likely to complete an advance directive than African Americans. The major differences between African Americans and Whites were mainly explained by the level of mistrust and discrimination experienced by African Americans and partially explained by demographic characteristics. Our study showed that at both bivariate and multivariate levels, participation in religious activities was associated with higher odds of completion of an advance directive for both African Americans and Whites.

CONCLUSION

Interventional studies needed to address the impact of mistrust and perceived discrimination on advance directive completion.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Culturally appropriate multifaceted, theoretical- and religious-based interventions are needed that include minority health care providers, church leaders, and legal counselors to educate, modify attitudes, provide skills and resources for communicating with health care providers and family members.

Family Members' Understanding of the End-of-Life Wishes of People Undergoing Maintenance Dialysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

People receiving maintenance dialysis must often rely on family members and other close persons to make critical treatment decisions toward the end of life. Contemporary data on family members' understanding of the end-of-life wishes of members of this population are lacking.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS

Among 172 family members of people undergoing maintenance dialysis, we ascertained their level of involvement in the patient's care and prior discussions about care preferences. We also compared patient and family member responses to questions about end-of-life care using percentage agreement and the κ-statistic.

RESULTS

The mean (SD) age of the 172 enrolled family members was 55 (±17) years, 136 (79%) were women, and 43 (25%) were Black individuals. Sixty-seven (39%) family members were spouses or partners of enrolled patients. A total of 137 (80%) family members had spoken with the patient about whom they would want to make medical decisions, 108 (63%) had spoken with the patient about their treatment preferences, 47 (27%) had spoken with the patient about stopping dialysis, and 56 (33%) had spoken with the patient about hospice. Agreement between patient and family member responses was highest for the question about whether the patient would want cardiopulmonary resuscitation (percentage agreement 83%, κ=0.31), and was substantially lower for questions about a range of other aspects of end-of-life care, including preference for mechanical ventilation (62%, 0.21), values around life prolongation versus comfort (45%, 0.13), preferred place of death (58%, 0.07), preferred decisional role (54%, 0.15), and prognostic expectations (38%, 0.15).

CONCLUSIONS

Most surveyed family members reported they had spoken with the patient about their end-of-life preferences but not about stopping dialysis or hospice. Although family members had a fair understanding of patients' cardiopulmonary resuscitation preferences, most lacked a detailed understanding of their perspectives on other aspects of end-of-life care.

Disparities in Palliative and Hospice Care and Completion of Advance Care Planning and Directives Among Non-Hispanic Blacks: A Scoping Review of Recent Literature

OBJECTIVES

Published research in disparities in advance care planning, palliative, and end-of-life care is limited. However, available data points to significant barriers to palliative and end-of-life care among minority adults. The main objective of this scoping review was to summarize the current published research and literature on disparities in palliative and hospice care and completion of advance care planning and directives among non-Hispanc Blacks.

METHODS

The scoping review method was used because currently published research in disparities in palliative and hospice cares as well as advance care planning are limited. Nine electronic databases and websites were searched to identify English-language peer-reviewed publications published within last 20 years. A total of 147 studies that addressed palliative care, hospice care, and advance care planning and included non-Hispanic Blacks were incorporated in this study. The literature review include manuscripts that discuss the intersection of social determinants of health and end-of-life care for non-Hispanic Blacks. We examined the potential role and impact of several factors, including knowledge regarding palliative and hospice care; healthcare literacy; communication with providers and family; perceived or experienced discrimination with healthcare systems; mistrust in healthcare providers; health care coverage, religious-related activities and beliefs on palliative and hospice care utilization and completion of advance directives among non-Hispanic Blacks.

DISCUSSION

Cross-sectional and longitudinal national surveys, as well as local community- and clinic-based data, unequivocally point to major disparities in palliative and hospice care in the United States. Results suggest that national and community-based, multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary, theoretical-based, resourceful, culturally-sensitive interventions are urgently needed. A number of practical investigational interventions are offered. Additionally, we identify several research questions which need to be addressed in future research.

Advance Care Planning in Older Adults with CKD: Patient, Care Partner, and Clinician Perspectives

BACKGROUND

Older patients with advanced CKD are at high risk for serious complications and death, yet few discuss advance care planning (ACP) with their kidney clinicians. Examining barriers and facilitators to ACP among such patients might help identify patient-centered opportunities for improvement.

METHODS

In semistructured interviews in March through August 2019 with purposively sampled patients (aged ≥70 years, CKD stages 4-5, nondialysis), care partners, and clinicians at clinics in across the United States, participants described discussions, factors contributing to ACP completion or avoidance, and perceived value of ACP. We used thematic analysis to analyze data.

RESULTS

We conducted 68 semistructured interviews with 23 patients, 19 care partners, and 26 clinicians. Only seven of 26 (27%) clinicians routinely discussed ACP. About half of the patients had documented ACP, mostly outside the health care system. We found divergent ACP definitions and perspectives; kidney clinicians largely defined ACP as completion of formal documentation, whereas patients viewed it more holistically, wanting discussions about goals, prognosis, and disease trajectory. Clinicians avoided ACP with patients from minority groups, perceiving cultural or religious barriers. Four themes and subthemes informing variation in decisions to discuss ACP and approaches emerged: (1) role ambiguity and responsibility for ACP, (2) questioning the value of ACP, (3) confronting institutional barriers (time, training, reimbursement, and the electronic medical record, EMR), and (4) consequences of avoiding ACP (disparities in ACP access and overconfidence that patients' wishes are known).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients, care partners, and clinicians hold discordant views about the responsibility for discussing ACP and the scope for it. This presents critical barriers to the process, leaving ACP insufficiently discussed with older adults with advanced CKD.

English and Spanish-speaking vulnerable older adults report many barriers to advance care planning

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

Advance care planning (ACP) rates are low in diverse, vulnerable older adults, yet little is known about the unique barriers they face and how these barriers impact ACP documentation rates.

DESIGN

Validated questionnaires listing patient, family/friend, and clinician/system-level ACP barriers and an open-ended question on ACP barriers.

SETTING

Two San Francisco public/Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals.

PARTICIPANTS

One thousand two hundred and forty-one English and Spanish-speaking patients, aged 55 and older, with two or more chronic conditions.

MEASUREMENTS

The open-ended question on ACP barriers was analyzed using content analysis. We conducted chart review for prior ACP documentation. We used chi-square/Wilcoxon rank-sum tests and logistic regression to assess associations between ACP barriers and demographic characteristics/ACP documentation.

RESULTS

Participant mean age was 65 ± 7.4 years; they were 74% from racial/ethnic minority groups, 36% Spanish-speaking, and 36% with limited health literacy. A total of 26 barriers were identified (15 patient, 4 family/friend, 7 clinician/system-level), and 91% reported at least one ACP barrier (mean: 5.6 ± 4.0). The most common barriers were: (patient-level) discomfort thinking about ACP (60%), wanting to leave health decisions to "God" (44%); (family/friend-level) not wanting to burden friends/family (33%), assuming friends/family already knew their preferences (31%); (clinician/system-level) assuming doctors already knew their preferences (41%), and mistrust (37%). Compared with those with no barriers, participants with at least one reported barrier were more likely to be from a racial/ethnic minority group (76% vs 53%), Spanish-speaking (39% vs 6%), with fair-to-poor health (48% vs 34%), and limited health literacy (39% vs 9%) (p < 0.001 for all). Participants who reported barriers were less likely to have ACP documentation (adjusted odds ratio = 0.64, 95% confidence interval [0.42, 0.98]).

CONCLUSION

English- and Spanish-speaking older adults reported 26 unique barriers to ACP, with higher barriers among vulnerable populations, and barriers were associated with lower ACP documentation. Barriers must be considered when developing customized ACP interventions for diverse older adults.

"Don't Talk to Them About Goals of Care": Understanding Disparities in Advance Care Planning

BACKGROUND

Structurally marginalized groups experience disproportionately low rates of advance care planning (ACP). To improve equitable patient-centered end-of-life care, we examine barriers and facilitators to ACP among clinicians as they are central participants in these discussions.

METHOD

In this national study, we conducted semi-structured interviews with purposively selected clinicians from 6 diverse health systems between August 2018 and June 2019. Thematic analysis yielded themes characterizing clinicians' perceptions of barriers and facilitators to ACP among patients, and patient-centered ways of overcoming them.

RESULTS

Among 74 participants, 49 (66.2%) were physicians, 16.2% were nurses, and 13.5% were social workers. Most worked in primary care (35.1%), geriatrics (21.1%), and palliative care (19.3%) settings. Clinicians most frequently expressed difficulty discussing ACP with certain racial and ethnic groups (African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American) (31.1%), non-native English speakers (24.3%), and those with certain religious beliefs (Catholic, Orthodox Jewish, and Muslim) (13.5%). Clinicians were more likely to attribute barriers to ACP completion to patients (62.2%), than to clinicians (35.1%) or health systems (37.8%). Three themes characterized clinicians' difficulty approaching ACP (preconceived views of patients' preferences, narrow definitions of successful ACP, and lack of institutional resources), while the final theme illustrated facilitators to ACP (acknowledging bias and rejecting stereotypes, mission-driven focus on ACP, and acceptance of all preferences).

CONCLUSIONS

Most clinicians avoided ACP with certain racial and ethnic groups, those with limited English fluency, and persons with certain religious beliefs. Our findings provide evidence to support development of clinician-level and institutional-level interventions and to reduce disparities in ACP.

Advance care planning among African American patients on haemodialysis and their end-of-life care preferences

BACKGROUND

African Americans in the general population have been shown to be less likely than White ethnic groups to participate in advance care planning; however, advance care planning in the population receiving dialysis has not been well explored.

OBJECTIVE

We examined the prevalence of African American patients receiving haemodialysis' advance care planning discussions, and whether advance care planning impacts end-of-life care preferences.

DESIGN

In-person interviewer-administered surveys of African American patients receiving in-centre haemodialysis.

SETTING/PARTICIPANTS

About 101 participants at three large dialysis organisation units in Chicago.

OUTCOMES

Self-reported advance care planning and preferences for life-extending treatments at end-of-life.

RESULTS

Most patients (69%) report no advance care planning discussions with their healthcare providers. Nearly all patients (92%) without prior advance care planning reported their healthcare providers approached them about advance care planning. While the majority of patients indicated preference for aggressive life-extending care, prior conversations about end-of-life care wishes either with family members or a healthcare provider significantly decreased patients' likelihood of choosing aggressive life-extending care across three scenarios (all p < 0.05). Significantly more patients reported that common end-of-life scenarios related to increased dependence/disability were "not worth living through" compared with those associated with increased burden on family, decreased cognitive function, and severe pain/discomfort.

CONCLUSION

African Americans with end-stage renal disease need more frequent, culturally-sensitive advance care planning discussions. Despite a preference for aggressive life-sustaining treatments, individuals with prior advance care planning discussions were significantly less likely to support aggressive end-of-life care. End-of-life care discussions that focus on the impact of life-extending care on patients' independence could be more concordant with the values and priorities of the African American patients.

Communication Skills Training for Nurses and Social Workers: An Initiative to Promote Interdisciplinary Advance Care Planning and Palliative Care in Patients on Dialysis

Palliative care initiatives are needed in nephrology, yet implementation is lacking. We created a 6-hour workshop to teach the skills of active listening, responding to emotion, and exploring goals and values to nurses and social workers working in dialysis units. The workshop consisted of interactive didactics and structured role play with trained simulated patients. We assessed preparedness using a Likert scale and utilized paired t tests to measure the impact using a self-assessment survey following the training. Ten nurses and two social workers from six dialysis units completed the training. Mean scores improved in all domains: demonstrating empathic behaviors, responding to emotion and end-of-life concerns, eliciting family's concerns at end-of-life and patient's goals, and discussing spiritual concerns. Further testing in larger samples may help to confirm these results.

Fragmentation of care as a barrier to optimal ESKD management

Caring for patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) in the United States is challenging, due in part to the complex epidemiology of the disease's progression as well as the ways in which care is delivered. As CKD progresses toward ESKD, the number of comorbidities increases and care involves multiple healthcare providers from multiple subspecialties. This occurs in the context of a fragmented US healthcare delivery system that is traditionally siloed by provider specialty, organization, as well as systems of payment and administration. This article describes the role of care fragmentation in the delivery of optimal ESKD care and identifies research gaps in the evidence across the continuum of care. We then consider the impact of care fragmentation on ESKD care from the patient and health system perspectives and explore opportunities for system-level interventions aimed at improving care for patients with ESKD.

A critical exploration of professional jurisdictions and role boundaries in inter-professional end-of-life care in the community

This article critically examines how professional boundaries and hierarchies influence how end-of-life care is managed and negotiated between health and social care professionals. Our findings suggest there is uncertainty and lack of clarity amongst health and social care professionals regarding whose responsibility it is to engage, and document, the wishes of patients who are dying, which can lead to ambiguity in treatment decisions. We go on to explore the potential role of a new electronic system, designed to facilitate information sharing across professional boundaries, in shaping and bridging professional boundaries in the delivery of end-of-life care. We highlight potential negative impacts that may arise when health and social care groups are permitted varying levels of access to the system, and how this may be seen to reflect the value placed on their role in end-of-life care.

Capturing the complexity of healthcare for people with Down syndrome in quality indicators - a Delphi study involving healthcare professionals and patient organisations

BACKGROUND

Insight into quality of healthcare for people with Down Syndrome (DS) is limited. Quality indicators (QIs) can provide this insight. This study aims to find consensus among participants regarding QIs for healthcare for people with DS.

METHODS

We conducted a four-round Delphi study, in which 33 healthcare professionals involved in healthcare for people with DS and two patient organisations' representatives in the Netherlands participated. Median and 75-percentiles were used to determine consensus among the answers on 5-point Likert-scales. In each round, participants received an overview of participants' answers from the previous round.

RESULTS

Participants agreed (consensus was achieved) that a QI-set should provide insight into available healthcare, enable healthcare improvements, and cover a large diversity of quality domains and healthcare disciplines. However, the number of QIs in the set should be limited in order to prevent registration burden. Participants were concerned that QIs would make quality information about individual healthcare professionals publicly available, which would induce judgement of healthcare professionals and harm quality, instead of improving it.

CONCLUSIONS

We unravelled the complexity of capturing healthcare for people with DS in a QI-set. Patients' rights to relevant information have to be carefully balanced against providers' entitlement to a safe environment in which they can learn and improve. A QI-set should be tailored to different healthcare disciplines and information systems, and measurement instruments should be suitable for collecting information from people with DS. Results from this study and two preceding studies, will form the basis for the further development of a QI-set.

Caring for older patients with advanced chronic kidney disease and considering their needs: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Older patients with advanced chronic kidney disease often do not understand treatment options for renal replacement therapy, conservative kidney management, and advance care planning. It is unclear whether both clinicians and patients have similar perspectives on these treatments and end-of-life care. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore clinician and patient/caregiver perceptions of treatments for end-stage renal disease and advance care planning.

METHODS

This was a qualitative interview study of nephrologists (n = 8), primary care physicians (n = 8), patients (n = 10, ≥ 65 years and estimated glomerular filtration rate < 20), and their caregivers (n = 5). Interviews were conducted until thematic saturation was reached. Transcripts were transcribed using TranscribeMe. Using Nvivo 12, we identified key themes via narrative analysis.

RESULTS

We identified three key areas in which nephrologists', primary care physicians', and patients' expectations and/or experiences did not align: 1) dialysis discussions; 2) dialysis decision-making; and 3) processes of advance care planning. Nephrologist felt most comfortable specifically managing renal disease whereas primary care physicians felt their primary role was to advocate for patients and lead advance care planning discussions. Patients and caregivers had many concerns about the impact of dialysis on their lives and did not fully understand advance care planning. Clinicians' perspectives were aligned with each other but not with patient/caregivers.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings highlight the differences in experiences and expectations between clinicians, patients, and their caregivers regarding treatment decisions and advance care planning. Despite clinician agreement on their responsibilities, patients and caregivers were unclear about several aspects of their care. Further research is needed to test feasible models of patient-centered education and communication to ensure that all stakeholders are informed and feel engaged.

Developing the ethical framework of end-stage kidney disease care: from practice to policy

Ethical issues relating to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) care are increasingly being discussed by clinicians and ethicists but are still infrequently considered at a policy level or in the education and training of health care professionals. In most lower-income countries, access to kidney replacement therapies such as dialysis is not universal, leading to overt or implicit rationing of resources and potential exclusion from care of those who are unable to sustain out-of-pocket payments. These circumstances create significant inequities in access to ESKD care within and between countries and impose emotional and moral burdens on patients, families, and health care workers involved in decision-making and provision of care. End-of-life decision-making in the context of ESKD care in all countries may also create ethical dilemmas for policy makers, professionals, patients, and their families. This review outlines several ethical implications of the complex challenges that arise in the management of ESKD care around the world. We argue that more work is required to develop the ethics of ESKD care, so as to provide ethical guidance in decision-making and education and training for professionals that will support ethical practice in delivery of ESKD care. We briefly review steps that may be required to accomplish this goal, discussing potential barriers and strategies for success.

Advance Care Planning Training for Renal Social Workers

End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) is a life-limiting condition for which hospice and palliative care are not routinely provided to patients and families. While the ESRD mortality rate is close to 25%, patients on dialysis are half as likely to receive hospice services than patients with other life-limiting diagnoses. Nephrologists and dialysis social workers receive little training to effectively lead patients with ESRD and their families through the stages of dying and the completion of advance care planning. The lack of professional training, a need for greater commitment to advanced care planning from dialysis corporations, and reimbursement problems for hospice care, all contribute to low rates of hospice use within the ESRD population. An ESRD advance care training program for social workers is described that was developed as a part of a larger research project designed to increase advance care planning and referrals for hospice for those with ESRD. The goals were to help social workers become better advocates for patients and families, appreciate cultural, spiritual, racial and ethnic differences, and understand the ethical and legal issues in advance care planning. The challenges that emerged included high staff turnover and a paucity of corporate commitment to training.

Influence of clinical context on interpretation and use of an advance care planning policy: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Advance care planning is a process through which people share their values, goals and preferences regarding future medical treatments with the purpose of aligning care received with patient wishes. The objective of this study was to explore perspectives from patients and clinicians in 4 clinical settings to understand how context influences interpretation and application of advance care planning processes.

METHODS

This study used a qualitative interpretive descriptive design. Patient and clinician participants were recruited across 4 clinical outpatient settings (cancer, heart failure, renal failure and supportive living) in Calgary and Edmonton. Data were collected between 2014 and 2015 by means of recorded one-on-one semistructured interviews. We analyzed the data using thematic analysis in 2016-2017.

RESULTS

Thirty-four patients and 34 clinicians participated in interviews. Themes common to all 4 contexts were lack of shared understanding between patients and clinicians, and a lack of consistent clinical process related to advance care planning. Advance care planning understanding and process varied substantially between contexts. This variation seemed to be driven by differences in perceptions around disease burden and the nature of the physician-patient relationship.

INTERPRETATION

Provision of a system-wide policy and procedural framework alone was not found to be sufficient to form a standardized approach to advance care planning, as considerable variability existed in advance care planning process between and within clinical settings. Quality-improvement methods that consider local processes, gaps and barriers can help in developing a consistent, comprehensive process.

Medical Record Documentation of Goals-of-Care Discussions Among Older Veterans With Incident Kidney Failure

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE

Elicitation and documentation of patient preferences is at the core of shared decision making and is particularly important among patients with high anticipated mortality. The extent to which older patients with incident kidney failure undertake such discussions with their providers is unknown and its characterization was the focus of this study.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING & PARTICIPANTS

A random sample of veterans 67 years and older with incident kidney failure receiving care from the US Veterans Health Administration between 2005 and 2010.

EXPOSURES

Demographic and facility characteristics, as well as predicted 6-month mortality risk after dialysis initiation and documentation of resuscitation preferences.

OUTCOMES

Documented discussions of dialysis treatment and supportive care.

ANALYTICAL APPROACH

We reviewed medical records over the 2 years before incident kidney failure and up to 1 year afterward to ascertain the frequency and timing of documented discussions about dialysis treatment, supportive care, and resuscitation. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with these documented discussions.

RESULTS

The cohort of 821 veterans had a mean age of 80.9±7.2 years, and 37.2% had a predicted 6-month mortality risk>20% with dialysis. Documented discussions addressing dialysis treatment and resuscitation were present in 55.6% and 77.1% of patients, respectively. Those addressing supportive care were present in 32.4%. The frequency of documentation varied by mortality risk and whether the patient ultimately started dialysis. In adjusted analyses, the frequency and pattern of documentation were more strongly associated with geographic location and receipt of outpatient nephrology care than with patient demographic or clinical characteristics.

LIMITATIONS

Documentation may not fully reflect the quality and content of discussions, and generalizability to nonveteran patients is limited.

CONCLUSIONS

Among older veterans with incident kidney failure, discussions of dialysis treatment are decoupled from other aspects of advance care planning and are suboptimally documented, even among patients at high risk for mortality.

Facility Variation and Predictors of Do Not Resuscitate Orders of Hemodialysis Patients in Canada: DOPPS

BACKGROUND

Life expectancy in patients with end-stage kidney disease treated with hemodialysis (HD) is limited, and as such, the presence of an advanced care directive (ACD) may improve the quality of death as experienced for patients and families. Strategies to discuss and implement ACDs are limited with little being known about the status of Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders in the Canadian HD population.

OBJECTIVES

Using data from the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS), we set out to (1) examine the variability in DNR orders across Canada and its largest province, Ontario and (2) identify clinical and functional status measures associated with a DNR order.

DESIGN

We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the DOPPS Canada Phase 4 to 6 from 2009 to 2017.

SETTING

DOPPS facilities in Canada.

PATIENTS

All adults (>18 years) who initiated chronic HD with a documented ACD were included.

MEASUREMENTS

ACD and DNR orders.

METHODS

Descriptive statistics were compared for baseline characteristics (demographics, comorbidities, medications, facility characteristics, and patient functional status) and DNR status. The crude proportion of patients per facility with a DNR order was calculated across Canada and Ontario. Functional status was determined by activities of daily living and components of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQOL)-validated questionnaire. We used generalized estimating equations (GEEs) to create sequential multivariable models (demographics, comorbidities, and functional status) of variables associated with DNR status.

RESULTS

A total of 1556 (96% of total) patients treated with HD had a documented ACD and were included. A total of 10% of patients had a DNR order. The crude variation of DNR status differed considerably across facilities within Canada, between Ontario and non-Ontario, and within Ontario (interprovince variation = 6.3%-17.1%, Ontario vs non-Ontario = 8.2% vs 11.7%, intraprovincial variation [Ontario] = 1%-26%). Patients with a DNR order were more commonly older, white, with cardiac comorbidities, with less or shorter predialysis care compared with those without a DNR order. Patients with a DNR order reported lower energy, more difficulty with transfers, meal preparation, household tasks, and financial management. In a multivariate model, age, cardiac disease, stroke, dialysis duration, and intradialytic weight gain were associated with DNR status.

LIMITATIONS

Relatively small number of events or measures in certain categories.

CONCLUSIONS

A large inter- and intraprovincial (Ontario) variation was observed regarding DNR orders across Canada highlighting areas for potential quality improvement. While functional status did not appear to have a bearing on the presence of a DNR order, the presence of various comorbidities was associated with the presence of a DNR order.

A Gap Analysis Assessing the Perceptions of Primary Care Physicians in the Management of Kidney Recipients After Transplantation

OBJECTIVES

To examine the practice patterns and perceptions of primary care physicians in the management of chronic diseases in kidney recipients, assess care provided to recipients, and identify barriers to the optimal delivery of primary care to recipients.

METHODS

A self-administered questionnaire on the primary care of kidney recipients was developed and implemented. The survey investigated physician comfort and practice patterns in providing preventive and chronic care to recipients, patient self-management support, and physician perceptions on communication with transplant centers and barriers to ideal care.

RESULTS

A total of 210 physicians completed the survey (response rate of 22%). Among the respondents, 73% indicated they were currently providing care to kidney recipients. The majority of physicians specified that they rarely (57%) or never (20%) communicate with transplant centers. Most physicians felt comfortable providing care to recipients for non-transplant-related issues (92.5%), vaccinations (85%), and periodic health examinations (94%). The majority (75.3%) of physicians felt uncomfortable managing the immunosuppressive medications of recipients. Physicians' most commonly stated barriers to delivering optimal care to recipients were insufficient guidelines provided by the transplant center (68.9%) and lack of knowledge in managing recipients (58.8%). Suggested resources by physicians to improve their comfort level in managing recipients included guidelines and continuing medical educational activities related to transplantation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that there are barriers to delivering optimal primary care to kidney recipients. The approach to providing resources needed to bridge the knowledge gap for physicians in the management of recipients requires further exploration.

Serious Illness Treatment Preferences for Older Adults with Advanced CKD

BACKGROUND

Patient-centered care for older adults with CKD requires communication about patient's values, goals of care, and treatment preferences. Eliciting this information requires tools that patients understand and that enable effective communication about their care preferences.

METHODS

Nephrology clinic patients age ≥60 years with stage 4 or 5 nondialysis-dependent CKD selected one of four responses to the question, "If you had a serious illness, what would be important to you?" Condensed versions of the options were, "Live as long as possible;" "Try treatments, but do not suffer;" "Focus on comfort;" or "Unsure." Patients also completed a validated health outcome prioritization tool and an instrument determining the acceptability of end-of-life scenarios. Patient responses to the three tools were compared.

RESULTS

Of the 382 participants, 35% (n=134) selected "Try treatments, but do not suffer;" 33% (n=126) chose "Focus on comfort;" 20% (n=75) opted for "Live as long as possible;" and 12% (n=47) selected "Unsure." Answers were associated with patients' first health outcome priority and acceptability of end-of-life scenarios. One third of patients with a preference to "Focus on comfort" reported that a life on dialysis would not be worth living compared with 5% of those who chose "Live as long as possible" (P<0.001). About 90% of patients agreed to share their preferences with their providers.

CONCLUSIONS

Older adults with advanced CKD have diverse treatment preferences and want to share them. A single treatment preference question correlated well with longer, validated health preference tools and may provide a point of entry for discussions about patient's treatment goals.

Volunteer Involvement in Advance Care Planning: A Scoping Review

CONTEXT

Volunteer involvement may support organizations to initiate and operationalize complex interventions such as advance care planning (ACP).

OBJECTIVES

A scoping review was conducted to map existing research on volunteer involvement in ACP and to identify gaps in current knowledge base.

METHODS

We followed the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. The review included studies of any design reporting original research. ACP was defined as any intervention aimed at supporting people to consider and communicate their current and future health treatment goals in the context of their own preferences and values. Studies were included if they reported data relating to volunteers at any stage in the delivery of ACP.

RESULTS

Of 11 studies identified, nine different ACP models (initiatives to improve uptake of ACP) were described. Most of the models involved volunteers facilitating ACP conversations or advance care directive completion (n = 6); and three focused on ACP education, training, and support. However, a framework for volunteer involvement in ACP was not described; the studies often provided limited detail of the scope of volunteers' roles in ACP, and in three of the models, volunteers delivered ACP initiatives in addition to undertaking other tasks, in their primary role as a volunteer navigator. Increased frequency of ACP conversation or documentation was most commonly used to evaluate the effectiveness of the studies, with most showing a trend toward improvement.

CONCLUSIONS

Current literature on volunteer involvement in ACP is lacking a systematic approach to implementation. We suggest future research should focus on person-centered outcomes related to ACP to evaluate the effectiveness of volunteer involvement.

Prevalence and correlates of advance care directives among older Australians accessing health and residential aged care services: multicentre audit study

OBJECTIVES

It is important that the outcomes of advance care planning (ACP) conversations are documented and available at the point of care. Advance care directives (ACDs) are a subset of ACP documentation and refer to structured documents that are completed and signed by competent adults. Other ACP documentation includes informal documentation by the person or on behalf of the person by someone else (eg, clinician, family). The primary objectives were to describe the prevalence and correlates of ACDs among Australians aged 65 and over accessing health and residential aged care services. The secondary aim was to describe the prevalence of other ACP documentation.

DESIGN AND SETTING

A prospective multicentre health record audit in general practices (n=13), hospitals (n=12) and residential aged care facilities (RACFs; n=26).

PARTICIPANTS

503 people attending general practice, 574 people admitted to hospitals and 1208 people in RACFs.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Prevalence of one or more ACDs; prevalence of other ACP documentation.

RESULTS

29.8% of people had at least one ACD on file. The majority were non-statutory documents (20.9%). ACD prevalence was significantly higher in RACFs (47.7%) than hospitals (15.7%) and general practices (3.2%) (p<0.001), and varied across jurisdictions. Multivariate logistic regression showed that the odds of having an ACD were positively associated with greater functional impairment and being in an RACF or hospital compared with general practice. 21.6% of people had other ACP documentation.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, 30% of people had ACDs accessible and a further 20% had other ACP documentation, suggesting that approximately half of participants had some form of ACP. Correlates of ACD completion were greater impairment and being in an RACF or hospital. Greater efforts to promote and standardise ACDs across jurisdictions may help to assist older people to navigate and complete ACDs and to receive care consistent with their preferences.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ACTRN12617000743369.

Healthcare Providers' Attitudes, Knowledge, and Practice Behaviors for Educating Patients About Advance Directives: A National Survey

BACKGROUND:

Advance care planning for end-of-life care emerged in the mid-1970's to address the need for tools, such as the advance directive (AD) legal document, to guide medical decision-making among seriously ill patients, their families, and healthcare providers.

OBJECTIVE:

Study aims examine providers' perspectives on AD education that involve examining (1) a range of attitudes about educating patients, (2) whether prior knowledge was associated with practice behaviors in educating patients, and (3) specific factors among healthcare providers such as characteristics of work setting, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors that may influence AD education and documentation.

DESIGN:

To examine providers' views, we conducted a cross-sectional, online survey questionnaire of healthcare providers using social media outreach methods for recruitment.

METHODS:

This study used a cross-sectional survey design to examine the proposed aims. Healthcare providers, recruited through a broad approach using snowball methods, were invited to participate in an online survey. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine providers' views toward AD education.

RESULTS:

Of 520 participants, findings indicate that most healthcare providers said that they were knowledgeable about AD education. They also viewed providing education as beneficial to their practice. These findings suggest that having a positive attitude toward AD education and experiencing less organizational barriers indicate a higher likelihood that providers will educate patients regarding ADs.

CONCLUSION:

Various disciplines are represented in this study, which indicates that attitudes and knowledge influence AD discussions. The importance of AD discussions initiated by healthcare providers is critical to providing optimal patient-centered care.

What do hospitalists experience as barriers and helpful factors for having ACP conversations? A systematic qualitative evidence synthesis

BACKGROUND:

Hospitalists seem to struggle with advance care planning implementation. One strategy to help them is to understand which barriers and helpful factors they may encounter.

AIMS:

This review aims to give an overview on what hospitalists experience as barriers and helpful factors for having advance care planning conversations.

METHOD:

A systematic synthesis of the qualitative literature was conducted.

DATA SOURCES:

A bibliographic search of English peer-reviewed publications in PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Central, PsycINFO, and Web of Science was undertaken.

RESULTS:

Hospitalists report lacking communication skills which lead to difficulties with exploring values and wishes of patients, dealing with emotions of patients and families and approaching the conversation about letting a patient die. Other barriers are related to different interpretations of the concept advance care planning, cultural factors, like being lost in translation, and medicolegal factors, like fearing prosecution. Furthermore, hospitalists report that decision-making is often based on irrational convictions, and it is highly personal. Physician and patient characteristics, like moral convictions, experience, and personality play a role in the decision-making process. Hospitalists report that experience and learning from more experienced colleagues is helpful. Furthermore, efficient multidisciplinary co-operation is helping.

CONCLUSION:

This systematic review shows that barriers are often related to communication issues and the convictions of the involved hospitalist. However, they seem to be preventable by creating a culture where experienced professionals can be consulted, where convictions can be questioned, and where co-operation within and between organizations is encouraged. This knowledge can serve as a basis for implementation.

Emotional Impact of Illness and Care on Patients with Advanced Kidney Disease

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The highly specialized and technologically focused approach to care inherent to many health systems can adversely affect patients' emotional experiences of illness, while also obscuring these effects from the clinician's view. We describe what we learned from patients with advanced kidney disease about the emotional impact of illness and care.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS

As part of an ongoing study on advance care planning, we conducted semistructured interviews at the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System in Seattle, Washington, with 27 patients with advanced kidney disease between April of 2014 and May of 2016. Of these, ten (37%) were receiving center hemodialysis, five (19%) were receiving peritoneal dialysis, and 12 (44%) had an eGFR≤20 ml/min per 1.73 m2 and had not started dialysis. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed inductively using grounded theory methods.

RESULTS

We here describe three emergent themes related to patients' emotional experiences of care and illness: (1) emotional impact of interactions with individual providers: when providers seemed to lack insight into the patient's experience of illness and treatment, this could engender a sense of mistrust, abandonment, isolation, and/or alienation; (2) emotional impact of encounters with the health care system: just as they could be affected emotionally by interactions with individual providers, patients could also be affected by how care was organized, which could similarly lead to feelings of mistrust, abandonment, isolation, and/or alienation; and (3) emotional impact of meaning-making: patients struggled to make sense of their illness experience, worked to apportion blame, and were often quick to blame themselves and to assume that their illness could have been prevented.

CONCLUSIONS

Interactions with individual providers and with the wider health system coupled with patients' own struggles to make meaning of their illness can take a large emotional toll. A deeper appreciation of patients' emotional experiences may offer important opportunities to improve care.

Family Consultation to Reduce Early Hospital Readmissions among Patients with End Stage Kidney Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have mandated reducing early (30-day) hospital readmissions to improve patient care and reduce costs. Patients with ESKD have elevated early readmission rates, due in part to complex medical regimens but also cognitive impairment, literacy difficulties, low social support, and mood problems. We developed a brief family consultation intervention to address these risk factors and tested whether it would reduce early readmissions.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS

One hundred twenty hospitalized adults with ESKD (mean age=58 years; 50% men; 86% black, 14% white) were recruited from an urban, inpatient nephrology unit. Patients were randomized to the family consultation (n=60) or treatment-as-usual control (n=60) condition. Family consultations, conducted before discharge at bedside or via telephone, educated the family about the patient's cognitive and behavioral risk factors for readmission, particularly cognitive impairment, and how to compensate for them. Blinded medical record reviews were conducted 30 days later to determine readmission status (primary outcome) and any hospital return visit (readmission, emergency department, or observation; secondary outcome). Logistic regressions tested the effects of the consultation versus control on these outcomes.

RESULTS

Primary analyses were intent-to-treat. The risk of a 30-day readmission after family consultation (n=12, 20%) was 0.54 compared with treatment-as-usual controls (n=19, 32%), although this effect was not statistically significant (odds ratio, 0.54; 95% confidence interval, 0.23 to 1.24; P=0.15). A similar magnitude, nonsignificant result was observed for any 30-day hospital return visit: family consultation (n=19, 32%) versus controls (n=28, 47%; odds ratio, 0.53; 95% confidence interval, 0.25 to 1.1; P=0.09). Per protocol analyses (excluding three patients who did not receive the assigned consultation) revealed similar results.

CONCLUSIONS

A brief consultation with family members about the patient's cognitive and psychosocial risk factors had no significant effect on 30-day hospital readmission in patients with ESKD.

Association Between Hospice Length of Stay, Health Care Utilization, and Medicare Costs at the End of Life Among Patients Who Received Maintenance Hemodialysis

IMPORTANCE

Patients with end-stage renal disease are less likely to use hospice services than other patients with advanced chronic illness. Little is known about the timing of hospice referral in this population and its association with health care utilization and costs.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between hospice length of stay and health care utilization and costs at the end of life among Medicare beneficiaries who had received maintenance hemodialysis.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This cross-sectional observational study was conducted via the United States Renal Data System registry. Participants were all 770 191 hemodialysis patients in the registry who were enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare and died between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2014. The dates of analysis were April 2016 to December 2017.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Hospital admission, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and receipt of an intensive procedure during the last month of life; death in the hospital; and costs to the Medicare program in the last week of life.

RESULTS

Among 770 191 patients, the mean (SD) age was 74.8 (11.0) years, and 53.7% were male. Twenty percent of cohort members were receiving hospice services when they died. Of these, 41.5% received hospice for 3 days or fewer. In adjusted analyses, compared with patients who did not receive hospice, those enrolled in hospice for 3 days or fewer were less likely to die in the hospital (13.5% vs 55.1%; P < .001) or to undergo an intensive procedure in the last month of life (17.7% vs 31.6%; P < .001) but had higher rates of hospitalization (83.6% vs 74.4%; P < .001) and ICU admission (54.0% vs 51.0%; P < .001) and similar Medicare costs in the last week of life ($10 756 vs $10 871; P = .08). Longer lengths of stay in hospice beyond 3 days were associated with progressively lower rates of utilization and costs, especially for those referred more than 15 days before death (35.1% hospitalized and 16.7% admitted to an ICU in the last month of life; the mean Medicare costs in the last week of life were $3221).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Overall, 41.5% of hospice enrollees who had been treated with hemodialysis for their end-stage renal disease entered hospice within 3 days of death. Although less likely to die in the hospital and to receive an intensive procedure, these patients were more likely than those not enrolled in hospice to be hospitalized and admitted to the ICU, and they had similar Medicare costs. Without addressing barriers to more timely referral, greater use of hospice may not translate into meaningful changes in patterns of health care utilization, costs, and quality of care at the end of life in this population.