Kidney Patients Behind on Advance Care Planning, Access to Palliative Care

Hospice News December 10, 2024
Jim Parker

Patients with chronic kidney disease often face complex health care decisions, including identifying their need for palliative care.

Few kidney patients have advance care plans, despite the need for crucial choices like the continuation of dialysis, according to a 2021 study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Early advance care planning is “especially important” for this population, the study indicated.

“Chronic kidney disease is a patient population that needs a lot of support. In advance care planning, the presumption is that it’s something that’s done only towards the end of life, but advance care planning is just the act of planning your care in advance, and we realize that that can be applicable to a lot...

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