Perceptions of Multidisciplinary Renal Team Members toward Home Dialysis Therapies

Patients with ESKD are encouraged to pursue home dialysis therapy with the aims of improving quality of life, increasing patient autonomy, and reducing cost to health care systems. In a multidisciplinary team setting, patients interact with nephrologists, nurses, and allied health staff, all of whom may influence a patient's modality choice. Our objective was to evaluate the perceptions of all renal team members toward home dialysis therapies.

We performed a cross-sectional survey of multidisciplinary renal team members across five renal programs in British Columbia, Canada. The survey contained questions regarding primary work area, modality preference, patient and system factors that may influence modality candidacy, perceived knowledge of home therapies, and need for further education.

A total of 334 respondents (22 nephrologists, 172 hemodialysis nurses, 49 home nurses, 20 predialysis nurses, and 71 allied health staff) were included (48% response rate). All respondents felt that home dialysis was beneficial for patients who work or study, improved patients' quality of life, and provided cost savings to the system. Compared with in-center hemodialysis nurses, home therapies nurses were between five and nine times more likely to favor a home therapy for patients of older age, lower socioeconomic status, lower educational level, higher burden of comorbidities, and those lacking social supports. Nephrologists and patients were felt to have the most influence on modality choice, whereas dialysis nurses were seen as having the least effect on modality choice. Most respondents felt the need for further education in home therapies.

The majority of multidisciplinary team members, including allied health staff, acknowledged the benefits of home therapies. There were significant discrepancies among team members regarding patient-/system-level factors that may affect the candidacy of home therapies. Structured, focused, and repeated education sessions for all renal team members may help to address misperceptions around factors that influence modality candidacy.