Reducing Barriers in Access to Kidney Transplantation: Implementing the "Explore Transplant" Education Program to Increase Patient Knowledge and to Facilitate Informed Decision Making- A Pilot Study

Detailed Summary

Patients with End Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) require Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) in order to survive, be it dialysis or kidney transplantation (KT). Of the two modalities, KT has been associated with better quality of life (QOL) \[1-3\], reduced morbidity and mortality\[4, 5\], and reduced healthcare costs\[6\]. Studies in the US have shown that patients receiving tailored transplant education were more likely to complete the transplant evaluation \[9, 14, 15\]. For instance, patients receiving the Explore Transplant (ET) education program designed by Dr. Waterman, were more knowledgeable about KT and more likely to complete KT evaluation than control patients. Currently, there is a lack of standardized KT education in Ontario. Traditional approaches have been insufficient in providing the necessary education and information to enable patients to make an informed decision about their care. To address this issue, the study will assess the impact of kidney transplant related education using the Explore Transplant Ontario (ETO) education program on kidney transplant-related knowledge and on readiness to consider KT, readiness to consider living donor KT, and wait list/referral rates in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. In order to comprehensively measure this impact, 5 variables will be explored. 1. Readiness to consider DDKT 2. Readiness to consider LDKT 3. KT related knowledge in patients 4. Proportion of patients waitlisted or undergoing KT workup at 6 and 12 months after administration of ETO 5. Proportion of patients who have identified at least one potential living donor at 6 and 12 months after administration of ETO The hypotheses are as follows: 1. Readiness to consider DDKT will be higher in the "intervention" group compared to the "control" group at follow up. 2. Readiness to consider LDKT will be higher in the "intervention" group compared to the "control" group at follow up. 3. The KT related knowledge of the patients will be higher in the "intervention" group compared to the "control" group at follow up. 4. The proportion of patients waitlisted or undergoing KT workup at 6 and 12 month after the KT education will be higher in the "intervention" group compared to the "control" group. 5. The proportion of patients who have at least one potential living donor at 6 and 12 month after the KT education will be higher in the "intervention" group compared to the "control" group.

Study Details

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Interventions