Peer Support In Dialysis

Peer Support In Dialysis: A Feasibility Study

Peer mentoring is an approach used to support patients through their experience. In the End Stage Kidney Disease community many patients find out about their kidney failure without warning. This study is designed to test the feasibility of a structured peer support program, specifically, patient uptake, engagement and patient and staff perspectives.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: End Stage Renal Disease
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mentoring

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 57
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Jugjeet Atwal; Phone Number: 669-266-6317; Email: atwalj@satellitehealth.com
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Wael Hussein, MD; Phone Number: 650-404-3600; Email: husseinw@satellitehealth.com

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Mountain View, California, United States, 94040
      • Satellite Healthcare Mountain View
    • Mountain View, California, United States, 94040
      • WellBound Mountain View

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Mentor Patient Participants Inclusion criteria:

• Patients living with dialysis or kidney transplant, who volunteer to support other patients.
• Mentor participants agree to complete the CMS End Stage Renal Disease Network Peer Mentoring training program (https://www.kidneylearninghub.com/patients-peer-mentoring-program/ ) and follow the guidelines for participation in the program.

Mentor Patient Participants Exclusion criteria:

• Age <18 years.
• Patient cannot communicate in English.
• Concerns raised by the clinical team that may expose the mentor, mentee, staff, or the program to risks, as identified by the clinical team and discussed with the principal investigator.

Mentee Patient Participants Inclusion criteria:

• All incident (new) dialysis patients or their care partners, within the first three months of dialysis.

OR

• Prevalent dialysis patients or their care partners identified by the clinical team to need peer support.

Mentee Patient Participants Exclusion criteria:

• Age < 18 years.
• Significant physical or psychological health conditions (including cognitive impairment) that would limit the patient's ability to interact with the mentor, AND care partner not available or reachable to join the program.
• This criteria will be subjectively evaluated by the clinical team.

Clinical and administrative staff supporting the program inclusion criteria

• referring physicians, the medical director of the center, social workers, nurses, patient care technicians (PCT), certified clinical hemodialysis technicians (CCHT), and administrative staff.
• Support staff are those who interact with mentors or mentees as part of their routine work.
• Formally participate in supporting the program by identifying candidates, introducing them to the program, or providing them with support.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mentee; Participants will be approached by a mentor, exchange experiences and invite the prospective mentee to the program. Those interested to continue will undergo matching based on their desired criteria.	Behavioral: Mentoring; At least one meeting between the mentor and mentee will occur to share experiences and see if the mentee would like to continue meeting with a mentor

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mentor	Number of patients registering to become mentors, percent of those registered completing mentor training and percent of trained mentors who meet at least one mentee.	6 - 12 months
Mentee	Number and proportion of patients starting dialysis, or prevalent dialysis patients identified by the clinical team to need peer support, who receive an introductory peer mentor visit. Number and % of mentees who indicate interest to continue with more peer mentoring visits.	1 month

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mentor Perspectives	Evaluation of recruitment, training and program. Data collection will be through the Mentor Recruitment and Training Evaluation form and through focus group discussions	6-12month
Mentee Perspectives	Peer Mentorship Program Evaluation - Mentee form to be completed by the mentee to collect data on the mentees perspective of the program	1-4 weeks
Support Staff Perspectives	Peer Mentorship Program Evaluation - Staff to be completed by the center staff to collect data on their perspective of the program	3,6,9 and 12 months
Mentor - Mentee Matching	Preferences about matching (n and % for age range, gender, race, language, social conditions, specific dialysis experiences [e.g. Peritoneal Dialysis / Home HemoDialysis / transplant], and others).	1 month

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Satellite Healthcare
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Wael Hussein, MD, Satellite Healthcare

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Orsmond GI, Cohn ES. The Distinctive Features of a Feasibility Study: Objectives and Guiding Questions. OTJR (Thorofare N J). 2015 Jul;35(3):169-77. doi: 10.1177/1539449215578649.
• Bennett PN, St Clair Russell J, Atwal J, Brown L, Schiller B. Patient-to-patient peer mentor support in dialysis: Improving the patient experience. Semin Dial. 2018 Sep;31(5):455-461. doi: 10.1111/sdi.12703. Epub 2018 May 2.
• Collins, K. (2016). NKF Peers Mentoring Program. National Kidney Foundation Journal of Nephrology Social Work, 40(2), 25-33.
• Fida'Husain, H. K., & Johan, A. (2020). Effects of Peer Support Program on Self-Management in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease Undergoing Hemodialysis.
• Flythe JE, Narendra JH, Yule C, Manivannan S, Murphy S, Lee SD, Strigo TS, Peskoe S, Pendergast JF, Boulware LE, Green JA. Targeting Patient and Health System Barriers To Improve Rates of Hemodialysis Initiation with an Arteriovenous Access. Kidney360. 2021 Feb 26;2(4):708-720. doi: 10.34067/KID.0007812020. eCollection 2021 Apr 29.
• Hussein WF, Bennett PN, Schiller B. Innovations to Increase Home Hemodialysis Utilization: The Transitional Care Unit. Adv Chronic Kidney Dis. 2021 Mar;28(2):178-183. doi: 10.1053/j.ackd.2021.02.009.
• St Clair Russell J, Southerland S, Huff ED, Thomson M, Meyer KB, Lynch JR. A Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Program for In-Center Hemodialysis: A Patient-Centered Quality Improvement Program. Nephrol Nurs J. 2017 Nov-Dec;44(6):481-496.

Helpful Links

• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). (2021). Partnership for patients.
• ESRD National Coordinating Center. (2021). ESRD Networks Peer Mentor Program.
• Lessons Learned: Implementation of a Peer-to-Peer Mentor Program in Individuals Requiring Hemodialysis.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 6, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 23, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 26, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): June 2, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 21, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 19, 2023
• Last Verified: July 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Kidney Diseases; Urologic Diseases; Disease Attributes; Renal Insufficiency; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic; Chronic Disease; Female Urogenital Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications; Urogenital Diseases; Male Urogenital Diseases; Kidney Failure, Chronic
• Other Study ID Numbers: SIH131_Peer Mentoring

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No