The Journal Of Nephrology Social Work - Volume 45, Issue 2 (2022)
Table of Contents
The Most Important Thing We Can Do Is Listen:
Making Peer Mentoring Available for All
Robin Asick, MSW, LSW, NSW-C, University of New England, Biddeford, ME;
Kristy Washinger, MSN, FNP-BC, Nephrology Associates of Central Pennsylvania, Inc., Camp Hill, PA;
Tabitha Semancik, MSW, LSW, UPMC Pinnacle Kidney Transplant Program, Pittsburgh, PA
The purpose of this research was to increase the availability of mentor training materials for people with kidney disease, learning disabilities, and vision difficulties through the creation of an audiobook and a large font textbook to improve their participation in the training process. A qualitative approach was utilized to evaluate the participants’ training experience. A secondary goal of this project was to assess the mentee’s quality of life (QOL) prior to being matched with a mentor and then 3–6 months after the match. During our yearlong study, 11 participants completed the peer mentor training classes and 5 mentees were matched with the mentors. Mentee QOL was measured by the CDC’s Healthy Days Measure before participating in the peer mentoring program and reflected variable QOL for mentee participants. Findings indicate that participants utilized the audiobook and felt it aided their training experience.
How Organ Transplant Recipients Cope with the Deaths of Their Donors
Steven A. Iacono, LISW-CP, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
There has been limited research about how people who have received organ transplants from deceased donors cope with their donors’ deaths. A study was conducted with 77 anonymous recipients to determine how their coping methods may differ qualitatively or quantitatively. Results indicate that females and males use a variety of methods, with several differences noted in their levels of importance, frequency of use, and impact. Some differences, based on age, were also noted. Four overarching themes were identified in the coping process, including: resolving whether the donor “died for” the individual, the random-chance nature of receiving an organ acting as an emotional defense, thanks/faith in God being beneficial, and gratitude toward the donor and their family.
Application of the Family Resilience Framework to Dyadic Shared
Decision-Making in Dialysis: An Interpretive Phenomenological Inquiry
Renata Sledge, PhD, Medical Education Institute, LLC, Madison, WI; Dixie Meyer, PhD, Katie Heiden-Rootes, PhD, Max Zubatsky, PhD, Family and Community Medicine, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO; Teri Browne, PhD, College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC; Marie Philipneri, MD, PhD, Nephrology, Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO
Nephrology social workers are trained to assess and address the ecosystemic splits in nephrology care that threaten the resilience of dialysis patients and their families. Given this training and skills, nephrology social workers are ideally positioned to help center the patient and their decision partner in modality decisions that are increasingly influenced by provider incentives to promote home dialysis and transplant utilization. The Family Resilience Framework provides a paradigm for social work assessment and intervention during the iterative process of dyadic dialysis decision-making to develop an individualized care plan that promotes resilience through attunement to dyadic processes.