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Advance Care Planning Coaching for Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Chronic Kidney Diseases
Interventions
Behavioral: Printed advance care planning materials
Behavioral: Advance care planning coaching session.
Registration Number
NCT03506087
Lead Sponsor
George Washington University
Brief Summary

This project will develop and test a model intervention for Advance Care Planning (ACP) for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) cared for in nephrology clinics that have the capacity to consult with or refer to palliative care. Specifically, we will compare the effectiveness of having a trained ACP coach meet in person with patients to discuss their goals and preferences vs. providing patients with a packet of material to review on their own and then discuss with their nephrologist at their initiation.

Hypothesis: In patients aged 55 or older with stage 3-5 Chronic Kidney Disease cared for in a CKD outpatient clinic, an advance care planning process that involves in-person meetings with a trained ACP coach will be more effective than providing patients with printed educational materials alone.

Detailed Description

BASELINE VISIT: After obtaining written informed consent, research staff will administer a baseline survey to assess ACP readiness as well as participant physical and emotional health. The participant will then be randomized to one of the study arms: intervention or control. Research staff will provide participants in both study arms with the advance care planning educational materials and instruct them that they are encouraged to discuss their thoughts and questions with the nephrologist, at their own initiation. Participants will be further encouraged to bring their advance directives (ADs) to the clinic to be scanned into the electronic health record (EHR) if they currently have ADs or complete them in the future.

ADVANCE CARE PLANNING COACHING SESSION (intervention arm only): Participants in the intervention arm will receive a 60-minute in-person coaching session. The advance care planning coach, trained in motivational interviewing, will use a flexible script and checklist to assess the participant's readiness to engage in advance care planning and guide the participant forward in the process, proceeding at the participant's pace. Some participants may complete advance directives while others will not get that far. The coach will document the clinical aspects of the discussion in the participant's medical chart according to clinic protocol and the research aspects in the participant tracking instruments. The ACP coach may arrange for one or more follow-up sessions as needed, typically conducted by telephone.

FOLLOW-UP ASSESSMENT SURVEY (both study arms): Approximately 14 weeks after the baseline visit, research staff will contact the participant to administer a follow-up assessment survey.

FOLLOW-UP CHART REVIEW: Approximately 16 weeks after the baseline visit, research staff will review the participant's medical chart to assess documentation of advance care planning activities, medical and health outcomes, and use of medical and palliative care services.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
288
Inclusion Criteria
  • Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Stage 3-5
  • Age 55 or older
  • English speaking
  • Patient at participating CKD clinic
Exclusion Criteria
  • Receiving dialysis
  • Kidney transplant recipient
  • Cognitively impaired or otherwise not competent to participate (as deemed by treating nephrologist and research staff)
  • Participation contra-indicated for patient's health (as deemed by treating nephrologist)

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Enhanced ControlPrinted advance care planning materialsReceives printed advance care planning materials only.
CoachingAdvance care planning coaching session.Receives printed advance care planning (ACP) materials. Receives advance care planning coaching session. May receive followup coaching session, typically by telephone.
CoachingPrinted advance care planning materialsReceives printed advance care planning (ACP) materials. Receives advance care planning coaching session. May receive followup coaching session, typically by telephone.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Advance directive in EHR16 weeks after baseline

Proportion of participants with advance directive or POLST/MOLST in EHR

ACP readiness score14 weeks after baseline

Mean ACP readiness score at follow-up survey

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Medical decision maker documented in EHR16 weeks after baseline

Proportion of participants with medical decision maker documented in EHR

ACP conversation with nephrologist documented in EHR16 weeks after baseline

Proportion of participants with documentation in EHR of ACP conversation with nephrologist

Trial Locations

Locations (4)

Renal & Transplant Associates of New England

🇺🇸

Springfield, Massachusetts, United States

Mountain Kidney & Hypertension Associates

🇺🇸

Asheville, North Carolina, United States

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Kidney Clinic

🇺🇸

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

MedStar Washington Hospital Center

🇺🇸

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

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