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Table 1 Characteristics of and general functioning report feedback from participants in the focus group, 3/17

From: Delivery of a patient-friendly functioning report to improve patient-centeredness of dialysis care: a pilot study

 

Patients Receiving Hemodialysis

Hemodialysis Providers

No. of patients

17

17

No. of focus groups*

2

2

Participant Characteristics

 Mean age, years

53

49

 % male

65%

24%

 % black

88%

53%

 Mean years on dialysis/treating kidney patients

8 years

12 years

Report Feedback

 Perceived uses of the report:

  Facilitation of individualized/patient-centered care

“[I]t’s a gauge for each individual that has issues in their own way to address with a doctor.”

—Patient group 1

“I think, if this is done more with dialysis patients a lot of things that transcends like weight gain, weight losses, and all that stuff can be controlled better. And you get a better understanding with the doctor and the patient on what they could do in order to kind of bring that into focus, you know, more readily with the patient.”

—Patient group 1

“If I got a report like this … for example, this patient can easily feed themselves, but going grocery shopping and preparing their own food is not likely to happen. So this patient could benefit from a Meals-on-Wheels type program.”

—Non-physician group

“It’s good to build a rapport with your patients. You know, just talking to them about their status, functioning status, and offering support. So I think that’s a good way to … kind of build trust with them as well.”

—Non-physician group

  Potential longitudinal use

“I would take this whole chart and try to make it better.”

—Patient group 2

“I can see where you could use the tool serially and someone is either getting better or worse.”

—Physician group

 Perceived limitations of the report:

  Limitations in the dialysis facility setting

“I don’t think the dialysis clinic would be the setting for something like this, I think it would be somewhere where you schedule an appointment at the convenience of the patient’s schedule or when the patient feels like they’re up to [it].”

—Patient group 1

“Some of them have transportation [issues], they have to leave right away, they don’t have time to sit with you. Some prefer … more confidentiality, so it just depends, I think.”

—Non-physician group

  Limitations when functioning is very high or low

“Well it is OK for people that’s physically able to do it, but people like me [in a wheelchair] that’s not physically able, I would score 0 on every one of them.”

—Patient group 1

“Obviously if you have amputations, like a lot of people do, or if you can’t walk or get up, you can’t do any of this, you’d get a zero. But you may have some functional capacity; if you’re in a wheelchair you might be able to wheel yourself around.”

—Physician group

  1. *For providers, focus groups were split by discipline: physicians and physician extenders vs. nurses, social workers, and dietitians