Kidney transplant patients experience physical and psychological suffering in the context of their illnesses that may be amenable to palliative care. However, palliative care is often underutilized in this population. In this mixed-methods study recently published in AJKD, Naoka Murakami and Amanda J. Reich et al surveyed 149 clinicians across the United States, and 19 of them completed semistructured interviews. Their study results demonstrate that several patient, clinician, system, and policy factors need to be addressed to improve palliative care delivery to this vulnerable population.

AJKDBlog’s Interviews Editor, Timothy Yau @Maximal_Change, sat down with authors Drs Murakami @nymurakami, Reich @AmandaJReich, and Joshua R. Lakin to discuss kidney transplant clinicians’ perceptions of palliative care.

If the embedded player above doesn’t work, please click here to watch the video interview. Special thanks to Drs Murakami, Reich, and Lakin for their time and insight!

To view this Original Investigation by Murakami and Reich et al, please visit AJKD.org

Title: Kidney Transplant Clinicians’ Perceptions of Palliative Care for Patients With Failing Allografts in the US: A Mixed Methods Study
Authors: Naoka Murakami, Amanda J. Reich, Katherine He, Samantha L Gelfand, Richard E. Leiter, Kate Sciacca, Joel T Adler, Emily Lu, Song C Ong, Beatrice P Concepcion, Neeraj Singh, Haris Murad, Prince Anand, Sarah J Ramer, Darshana Dadhania, Krista L Lentine, Joshua R Lakin, and Tarek Alhamad
DOI: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2023.06.002

EDITORIAL Don’t Let the Label “Palliative Care” Stand in the Way of Meeting the Needs of Patients With Graft Loss by Carrie Thiessen, Nora Jacobson, and Toby Campbell [FREE]

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:

We would like to invite blog post submissions related to next year’s World Kidney Day (WKD) campaign theme: “Kidney Health for All: Advancing equitable access to care and optimal medication practice”. Submissions should be between 800-1,200 words and sent to AJKD@pennmedicine.upenn.edu by February 14^th, 2024.