In their own words: the value of qualitative research to improve the care of children with chronic kidney disease

Holistic care and symptom management for pediatric kidney transplant recipients

While many aspects of life may improve substantially for children and young people undergoing kidney transplant, there may be new challenges including symptoms that can be detrimental to health-related quality of life. Addressing symptoms requires attention to patient and family perspectives and a holistic approach grounded in symptom management. The interdisciplinary pediatric nephrology transplant team should be attuned to the prevalence of common symptoms including fatigue, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, pain, and sleep disturbances, as well as poor body image and sexual health. These common symptoms require regular assessment with a focus on appropriate interventions and how care may be impacted by transplant status.

Burden and quality of care index of chronic kidney disease: Global Burden of Disease analysis for 1990-2019

BACKGROUND

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) imposes a heavy obscure burden on individuals and health systems. Besides its burden, the quality of care of CKD is less well investigated. In this study, we aimed to explore the global, regional and national trends of CKD burden and quality of care.

METHODS

The Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 data were used. Trends of incidence, prevalence, deaths and disability-adjusted life years were studied for the 1990-2019 period in the global aspect. By generating four secondary indices to assess different aspects of quality of care the quality of care index (QCI) was developed to explore the care provided for CKD. Inequities and disparities between various geographic, socio-demographic and age stratifications, and sex were studied using the QCI values.

RESULTS

In 2019, there were 18 986 903 (95% uncertainty interval 17 556 535 to 20 518 156) incident cases of CKD, globally. The overall global QCI score had increased slightly from 78.4 in 1990 to 81.6 in 2019, and it was marginally better in males (QCI score 83.5) than in females (80.3). The highest QCI score was observed in the European region with a score of 92.5, while the African region displayed the lowest QCI with 61.7. Among the age groups, the highest QCI was for children aged between 5 and 9 years old (92.0), and the lowest was in the age group of 20-24 year olds (65.5).

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed that significant disparities remain regarding the quality of care of CKD, and to reach better care for CKD, attention to and care of minorities should be reconsidered. The evidence presented in this study would benefit health policymakers toward better and more efficient control of CKD burden alongside improving the care of this condition.

Mothers' lived experience of caring for children with inborn errors of amino acid metabolism

BACKGROUND

Inborn errors of amino acid metabolism are chronic conditions that have many sequels. Mothers of these children are facing different challenges which are underdetermined. This study was done to explore lived experience of mothers caring for these children.

METHODS

This is an interpretive phenomenology with van Manen's approach which has 6 steps. Data were gathered by convenience and purposeful sampling. Nine mothers with different experiences were interviewed and the interviews were audiotaped.

RESULTS

Six final themes were revealed from the exploring mothers' experiences including the future tied to the past, psychosis in the shadow of a lost ideal child, rebellion and blaming, the ways of escaping difficulties, self-forgetting in the shadow of full-time care, passing difficulties in the duality of hope-hopelessness, caring in a continuum of isolation-socialization.

CONCLUSION

Mothers have multiple challenges in taking care of their children, especially psychologically and financially. So, nurses must plan programs for helping mothers of children with inborn errors of amino acid metabolism to reduce the effects of disease on mothers and consequently the children and the whole family.

Enabling flourishing: novel approaches in palliative medicine for children with advanced kidney disease

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Paediatric kidney disease results in considerable burden on children and their families. Paediatric palliative care is a holistic, family-centred care approach intended to enable flourishing and address the many impediments to life participation which advanced kidney disease can impose. To date, palliative care resources have been underutilized in paediatric nephrology. This review will highlight recent literature targeting the engagement and life participation of children with advanced kidney disease through implementation of novel palliative care approaches and propose directions for future research.

RECENT FINDINGS

Children with advanced kidney disease and their families highly value incorporation of their perspectives, particularly on life participation, within care plan development; but what it means to participate in life can be variable, and clinicians need improved tools to ascertain and incorporate these perspectives. Novel palliative care interventions developed for application in comparable disease states offer potential opportunities for paediatric nephrologists to support this goal.

SUMMARY

Children with advanced kidney disease and their families will benefit from incorporation of their perspectives and values, facilitated by palliative interventions.

Caregiver perspectives of dialysis initiation for children with kidney disease: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

To better support family-centered care surrounding dialysis initiation, greater understanding of caregiver experience is necessary.

METHODS

Using thematic analysis, we conducted a secondary analysis of semi-structured interview data from a qualitative study of caregivers of children receiving dialysis recruited from 3 pediatric centers. Prominent themes in caregiver experience of caring for a child initiating dialysis were identified.

RESULTS

Thirty-five caregivers participated. Three major themes emerged from qualitative analysis: (1) parenting disrupted - caregivers experienced an acute disruption in their parenting role due to the unexpected, emergent circumstances and vast information accompanying their child's diagnosis; (2) redefining parenting - caregivers sought to reestablish their innate parental role and foster their evolving medical provider role through reassurance that their child could survive, communication with the medical team, and engaging in care plan development; and (3) leveraging dual identities - to positively impact their child's experience and enable flourishing, caregivers leveraged their established caregiver role and newly realized medical provider role through voicing their perspectives, watching over their child's care, and preparing for future changes in their child's health. If caregivers' evolution was not nurtured and enabled, acute fluctuations in their child's care could contribute to future disruption and need to restore their parental role. However, if caregiver development was fostered, caregivers acquired increased ability to prepare for vacillations in their child's care.

CONCLUSIONS

Improving delivery of family-centered care and support of caregivers at dialysis initiation will require directed efforts by nephrology care teams to foster caregiver evolution and resilience and respond to the family's changing experience of kidney disease. A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information.

Influence of Pediatric Patients' Developmental or Chronic Health Condition Status as a Predictor of Parents' Perceptions of Patient- and Family-Centered Care

Our study aimed to estimate how a pediatric patient's health condition status influences parents' perceptions of patient- and family-centered care (PFCC). We analyzed five years (2013-2017) of Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data in efforts to expand understanding of the family influence in pediatric health encounters, using family systems theory as our theoretical lens. The sample included 36,675 parents of children with developmental or chronic health conditions who reported visiting a health-care provider within the past 12 months. The independent variable was a combined measure of any developmental or chronic health conditions previously diagnosed in the child being assessed. Dependent variables included parent reports of communication variables related to how often providers: listened; showed respect; spent enough time; and explained things well. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate the odds of receiving PFCC using a dichotomous measure of PFCC quality and separate domains. Results found that 1) the dichotomous variable of PFCC showed that parents of children with health conditions were less likely to report their provider always performed all elements of PFCC compared to parents whose children did not have any health conditions; 2) parents of children with developmental or chronic health conditions were less likely to report their provider always explained things well compared to parents whose children did not have any health conditions. Efforts to improve PFCC should focus on training providers to demonstrate high-quality practices to improve health outcomes for pediatric patients with developmental or chronic conditions.

Patient-Reported Outcomes in Children With Chronic Kidney Disease

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are quantitative assessments of a patient's perspective on their health and are derived directly from the patient, as opposed to clinician interpretation. PROs can serve as unique tools to improve health care providers' understanding of the patient's daily lived experience and highlight salient domains that are specific to children with chronic kidney disease (CKD). As such, PROs fill an important gap in achieving optimal health and well-being for children with CKD. However, several knowledge gaps remain in the implementation of PROs within both the clinical and research realms. This review provides a broad overview of PRO development, implementation for children with CKD, and highlights future directions and challenges.

Adding Life to Their Years: The Current State of Pediatric Palliative Care in CKD

Despite continued advances in medical treatment, pediatric CKD remains an unremitting, burdensome condition characterized by decreased quality of life and earlier death. These burdens underscore the need for integration of pediatric palliative care (PPC) into nephrology practice. PPC is an evolving field that strives to (1) relieve physical, psychologic, social, practical, and existential suffering; (2) improve quality of life; (3) facilitate decision making; and (4) assist with care coordination in children with life-threatening or life-shortening conditions. Integration of palliative care into routine care has already begun for adults with kidney disease and children with other chronic diseases; however, similar integration has not occurred in pediatric nephrology. This review serves to provide a comprehensive definition of PPC, highlight the unmet need in pediatric nephrology and current integration efforts, discuss the state of palliative care in adult nephrology and analogous chronic pediatric disease states, and introduce future opportunities for study.

Sources of Distress Experienced by Parents of Children with Chronic Kidney Disease on Dialysis: A Qualitative Systematic Review

PROBLEM

Parents of children with chronic kidney disease face tremendous burdens of care, having to adopt dual roles as parents and informal healthcare providers, delivering home-based clinical care, despite lacking proper qualification and training.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

A systematic review of qualitative studies was conducted to identify sources of distress among parents caring for children with chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis, excluding children who have had renal transplants. Guided by PRISMA guidelines, six electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Scopus, Cochrane, Google Scholar) were searched for relevant articles published in English. A three-step inductive thematic synthesis method outlined by Thomas and Harden (2018) was used to form descriptive themes and the Critical Appraisal Skill Program (CASP) qualitative checklist was utilised to appraise the quality of included articles.

SAMPLE

A total of 23,129 title and abstracts were reviewed; 161 full texts were reviewed. Thirteen papers, with the experiences of 183 parents, met the inclusion criteria. Most included studies were conducted in Western countries, which may limit the applicability of this review to other countries.

RESULTS

Five themes emerged: disease-related distress, personal struggles, family structure, lack of resources and unrealistic social expectations.

CONCLUSION

Parents of children with chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis experienced distress at multiple levels.

IMPLICATION

Healthcare professionals caring for children with chronic kidney disease could screen parents early for distress, and refer them to relevant psychosocial and community services.

Caregiver burden in pediatric dialysis

In spite of improvements in expected survival, neurodevelopmental outcome, and quality of life, decision-making in neonatal dialysis remains controversial in high-resource countries. In part, this may be based upon the significant burdens experienced by the child, and also those experienced by the parents as caregivers. Emerging research offers a clearer description of the burdens experienced by dialysis caregivers worldwide. Caregiver burden represents an important area for nephrologists to advocate for patients and their families; however, nephrologists must also recognize the realities caregivers currently experience. Incorporation of caregiver burden into medical decision-making for children with end-stage kidney disease is necessary, but raises several ethical concerns.

Promoting medication adherence from the perspective of adolescent and young adult kidney transplant recipients, parents, and health care professionals: A TAKE-IT TOO study

Medication non-adherence is an important factor limiting allograft survival after kidney transplantation in AYA. Some interventions, including the TAKE-IT, showed some success in promoting adherence but the potential for scalability and use in routine clinical practice is limited. We applied user-centered design to gather the perspectives of recipients, parents, and health professionals concerning their needs, challenges, and potential intervention strategies to design an optimal, multi-component medication adherence intervention. The qualitative study was conducted at four Canadian and three American kidney transplant programs. Separate focus groups for recipients, parents, and health professionals were convened to explore these stakeholders' perspectives. Directed content analysis was employed to identify themes that were shared vs distinct across stakeholders. All stakeholder groups reported challenges related to taking medications on time in the midst of their busy schedules and the demands of transitioning toward independence during adolescence. The stakeholders also made suggestions for the multi-component behavioral intervention, including an expanded electronic pillbox and companion website, education materials, and customized digitized features to support shared responsibility and communication among recipients, parents, and health professionals. Several suggestions regarding the functionality and features of the potential intervention reported in this early stage will be explored in more depth as the iterative process unfolds. Our approach to actively involve all stakeholders in the process increases the likelihood of designing an adherence intervention that is truly user-informed and fit for the clinical setting.

Iranian mothers' Experiences with Children Undergoing Hemodialysis: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study

PURPOSE

To describe Iranian mothers' perspectives regarding hemodialysis for their children.

DESIGN AND METHODS

This qualitative study was conducted using the hermeneutic phenomenological approach. The sample consisted of 11 mothers, among whom five were interviewed once and six were interviewed twice, for a total of 17 interviews. The data were then analyzed using van Manen's (1997) method.

RESULTS

Five themes emerged from the data: mothers enclosed by child care, emotional and psychological tension, acceptance and contrivance, the entire family being a victim of a sick child, and self-devotion.

CONCLUSION

The results indicated that the mothers of children undergoing hemodialysis experience multiple stresses in the physical, emotional-psychological, social, and economic dimensions.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Nurses are the healthcare team members who most frequently interact with mothers of children undergoing hemodialysis. They are therefore positioned favorably to provide the information and emotional support needed by these mothers. Nurses are also among the frontline professionals who can provide services designed to assess the physical, psychological, and economic requirements of these mothers and their families.

"Immersion in an Ocean of Psychological Tension:" The Voices of Mothers with Children Undergoing Hemodialysis

BACKGROUND

Compared with other renal replacement therapies, hemodialysis treatment can impose restrictions on children with chronic renal failure and their mothers. Such pediatric illness can also lead to negative effects on mothers' physical and mental health. Knowledge about mothers' experiences can aid medical teams to support mothers in playing their roles as care managers. Providing supports to mothers can exert significant effects on mothers' health status and indirectly improve patient outcomes and whole family functioning. This study was aimed at understanding the meanings of care for children undergoing hemodialysis based on mothers' lived experiences.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study is a qualitative research using hermeneutic phenomenology. A total of 17 interviews were conducted with 11 mothers of children undergoing hemodialysis. The interview sessions were recorded and transcribed, after which the data were analyzed using van Manen's methodology.

RESULTS

The main themes identified in this study was "immersion in an ocean of psychological tension," which suggests that the mothers of the children undergoing hemodialysis are overwhelmed by the numerous psychological pressures that they encounter during their children's treatment. This theme was constituted by the subthemes "bewilderment between hope and despair," "endless concerns," "agony and sorrow," and "a sense of being ignored."

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicated the need to implement multilateral support measures that align with the educational, emotional-psychological, and financial needs of mothers with children receiving hemodialysis treatment. Such measures should be taken with the participation of multidisciplinary teams.