Supporting hemodialysis patients: A phenomenological study

Abstract

Background:Chronic renal disease and hemodialysis cause numerous psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual challenges for both patients and their families. Overcoming these challenges is possible only through providing holistic support for the patients. Today, despite the support provided by family and professional caregivers for the patients, patients still express dissatisfaction with the support provided and believe it to be inadequate. In fact, patients and family caregivers and healthcare practitioners seem to have different understandings of the notion of support. Thus, the researcher decided to examine the concept of support from the viewpoint of hemodialysis patients.Materials and Methods:This descriptive phenomenological research was conducted on 17 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who were undergoing hemodialysis. Purposive sampling was performed and continued until data saturation. Data were collected through 30–60 min unstructured interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi's method.Results:From the analysis of data, 4 themes (psychological support, accompaniment, social support, and spiritual support) and 11 sub-themes were obtained. Psychological support consisted of two sub-themes of psychological support by healthcare practitioners and emotional support by family and relatives. Accompaniment included three sub-themes of assistance in transportation, providing and using medicine, and daily activities. Social support was identified with four sub-themes of promotion of the society's understanding of the patients’ condition, improvement of communication with others, the need for employment, and independence. Spiritual support was identified with two sub-themes of the need for faith and trust in God or Imams and the need to resolve spiritual contradictions.Conclusion:The results showed that from the viewpoint of the participants, the concept of support consisted of psychological support, social support, accompanying the patient, and spiritual support. Hence, it can be concluded that this concept should be considered in healthcare planning, in order to improve the health and quality of life of these patients and their adaptation to the disease and its treatment process.

The Effect of Perceived Social Support on Hemodialysis Patients' Quality of Life

“…Globally, chronic kidney disease (CKD) consists a major public health problem, expanding at an alarming rate (1, 2). For instance, 1.500.000 individuals were undergoing hemodialysis in 2013, worldwide (1).…”

“…For instance, 1.500.000 individuals were undergoing hemodialysis in 2013, worldwide (1). The prevalence of disease is growing due to the increased incidence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity and aging of population (3).…”

“…At the same time, there is noticed a geographical or cultural variety in disease prevalence (4). Hemodialysis as the most common treatment method for renal failure imposes a considerable burden not only on patients and their families but also on the National Health System of each country (1-4). During last decades, health related quality of life (HRQOL) has been held as a valuable measurement in daily clinical practice that may reflect the outcome of the disease or the effectiveness of therapy (5).…”

“…According to patients’ reports, they mainly desire psychological, social, and spiritual support (1) while the needs for support are associated with age, education level, place of residence, difficulties in relations with family members and anxious personality (12). However, the needs for social support vary among patients undergoing hemodialysis that is mainly attributed either to the quality and quantity of their social network or to the severity of the disease (11).…”

Caregivers of Patients on Haemodialysis

“…Patients face depression and anxiety, low self-esteem, dependency on others, fatigue, infertility, sexual dysfunction, problems with bones, anaemia, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal disorders, and frequent hospitalizations. Additionally, long-term haemodialysis causes a number of psychological, social, and cultural problems to their families [3].…”