Quality of life and coping in home haemodialysis patients

Approximately 4,034 Australians are currently receiving dialysis therapy due to End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and of these 627 are performing haemodialysis within the home environment. Initial emphasis on the medical model, which considers bodily pathology and the technological potential to prolong life, is now expanding to incorporate a more humanistic picture of the individuals response to treatment and their quality of life (QoL). This uncertain partnership of technology and human experience has led to an increasing awareness of the need for health professionals to attain an understanding of the illness experience as it impacts on the patient's life. The importance of considering not only absolute survival time but the quality of that survival has triggered rapid growth in the areas of coping and QoL research. This paper provides a review of the literature which focuses on QoL and coping in haemodialysis patients and demonstrates the paucity of research which investigates the special concerns of home dialysis patients.