Teri Browne

Treatment Access Barriers and Disparities Among Individuals with Co-Occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders: An Integrative Literature Review

The purpose of this integrative review is to examine and synthesize extant literature pertaining to barriers to substance abuse and mental health treatment for persons with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders (COD). Electronic searches were conducted using ten scholarly databases. Thirty-six articles met inclusion criteria and were examined for this review. Narrative review of these articles resulted in the identification of two primary barriers to treatment access for individuals with COD: personal characteristics barriers and structural barriers. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed. In particular, additional studies on marginalized sub-populations are needed, specifically those that examine barriers to treatment access among older, non-White, non-heterosexual populations.

Sex Differences and Attitudes toward Living Donor Kidney Transplantation among Urban Black Patients on Hemodialysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Living donor kidney transplantation, the treatment of choice for ESRD, is underused by women and blacks. To better understand sex differences in the context of potential barriers to living donor kidney transplantation, the Dialysis Patient Transplant Questionnaire was administered in two urban, predominantly black hemodialysis units. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS The Dialysis Patient Transplant Questionnaire was designed to study barriers to kidney transplantation from previously validated questions. Between July of 2008 and January of 2009, the Dialysis Patient Transplant Questionnaire was administered to 116 patients on hemodialysis, including potentially eligible and ineligible living donor kidney transplantation candidates. Of 101 patients who self-identified as black or African American, 50 (49.5%) patients had the questionnaire entirely administered by the researcher or assistant, 25 (24.8%) patients required some assistance, and 26 (25.7%) patients completed the Dialysis Patient Transplant Questionnaire entirely by themselves. Multiple logistic regression methods were used to determine if the observed bivariate associations and differences persisted when controlled for potential confounders. RESULTS Women were less likely to want living donor kidney transplantation compared with men (58.5% versus 87.5%, P=0.003), despite being nearly two times as likely as men to receive unsolicited offers for kidney transplant (73.2% versus 43.2%, P=0.02). They were also less likely to have been evaluated for a kidney transplant (28.3% versus 52.2%, P=0.01). The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that sex was a statistically significant predictor of wanting living donor kidney transplantation (women versus men odds ratio, 0.13; 95% confidence interval, 0.04 to 0.46), controlling for various factors known to influence transplant decisions. A sensitivity analysis indicated that mode of administration did not bias these results. CONCLUSIONS In contrast to previous studies, the study found that black women were less likely to want living donor kidney transplantation compared with black men. Black women were also less likely to be evaluated for a kidney transplant, although they were more likely to receive an unsolicited living donor kidney transplantation offer.

A Randomized Trial to Reduce Disparities in Referral for Transplant Evaluation

Georgia has the lowest kidney transplant rates in the United States and substantial racial disparities in transplantation. We determined the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention to increase referral of patients on dialysis for transplant evaluation in the Reducing Disparities in Access to kidNey Transplantation Community Study (RaDIANT), a randomized, dialysis facility-based, controlled trial involving >9000 patients receiving dialysis from 134 dialysis facilities in Georgia. In December of 2013, we selected dialysis facilities with either low transplant referral or racial disparity in referral. The intervention consisted of transplant education and engagement activities targeting dialysis facility leadership, staff, and patients conducted from January to December of 2014. We examined the proportion of patients with prevalent ESRD in each facility referred for transplant within 1 year as the primary outcome, and disparity in the referral of black and white patients as a secondary outcome. Compared with control facilities, intervention facilities referred a higher proportion of patients for transplant at 12 months (adjusted mean difference [aMD], 7.3%; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 5.5% to 9.2%; odds ratio, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.36 to 2.26). The difference between intervention and control facilities in the proportion of patients referred for transplant was higher among black patients (aMD, 6.4%; 95% CI, 4.3% to 8.6%) than white patients (aMD, 3.7%; 95% CI, 1.6% to 5.9%; P<0.05). In conclusion, this intervention increased referral and improved equity in kidney transplant referral for patients on dialysis in Georgia; long-term follow-up is needed to determine whether these effects led to more transplants.

Enhancing Interprofessional Education: Integrating Public Health and Social Work Perspectives

National stakeholders in health system improvement and patient safety including accreditation bodies have requested health professional educational programs to include multiple interprofessional experiences through didactic and experiential opportunities. Clinical and population health faculty at the University of South Carolina redesigned and expanded an introductory interprofessional course to include more than 500 students from public health, social work, medicine, pharmacy, and nursing. Students participated in 3 live class meetings and completed required online coursework to explore concepts related to social determinants of health and health disparities, health system improvement, patient safety, cultural competency, and ethics to address interprofessional education core competencies. Course modifications and expanded student enrollment improved understanding of key health concepts and appreciation of interprofessional collaboration.

Barriers and Facilitators to Substance Use Treatment in the Rural South: A Qualitative Study

PURPOSE Little qualitative research has examined factors associated with care in substance abuse treatment agencies in Southeastern rural communities. This study explored client- and agency stakeholder-perceived barriers and facilitators to substance use treatment delivery in southeastern rural communities. METHODS Group and individual interviews were conducted with 40 key stakeholders and 40 clients at 9 substance abuse agencies serving rural communities in a southeastern state. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to substance abuse services in rural communities. FINDINGS Four primary themes emerged from the client and stakeholder interviews as both barriers and facilitators: availability of services for individuals with substance use disorders; access to the current technology for client services and agency functioning; cost of services; and stigma. CONCLUSIONS This study identifies novel barriers and facilitators to substance use care in the rural South and highlights essential areas for consideration when developing and implementing substance use care in this geographic region. These findings can be used as guidelines to provide better care to individuals with substance use disorders living in rural communities.

Teaching Future Teachers: A Model Workshop for Doctoral Education

Doctoral student training has become focused in recent years on acquiring subject-area knowledge and research skills, rather than on teaching. This shift often leaves aspiring junior faculty feeling unprepared to address the demanding pedagogical requirements of the professoriate. In the area of social work, few programs contain a structured, required program of study that addresses issues unique to teaching in a school of social work. This article outlines a doctoral teaching workshop as a model framework for social work doctoral programs. Suggestions are provided for ways to incorporate such an effort into current social work doctoral education.

The Use of a Multidimensional Measure of Dialysis Adequacy—Moving beyond Small Solute Kinetics

Urea removal has become a key measure of the intensity of dialysis treatment for kidney failure. Small solute removal, exemplified by Kt/Vurea, has been broadly applied as a means to quantify the dose of thrice weekly hemodialysis. Yet, the reliance on small solute clearances alone as a measure of dialysis adequacy fails fully to quantify the intended clinical effects of dialysis therapy. This review aims to (1) understand the strengths and limitations of small solute kinetics as a surrogate marker of dialysis dose, and (2) present the prospect of a more comprehensive construct for dialysis dose, one that considers more broadly the goals of ESRD care to maximize both quality of life and survival. On behalf of the American Society of Nephrology Dialysis Advisory Group, we propose the need to ascertain the validity and utility of a multidimensional measure that moves beyond small solute kinetics alone to quantify optimal dialysis derived from both patient-reported and comprehensive clinical and dialysis-related measures.

Everybody needs a cheerleader to get a kidney transplant: a qualitative study of the patient barriers and facilitators to kidney transplantation in the Southeastern United States.

BackgroundKidney transplantation (KTx) disparity is a significant problem in the United States, particularly in the Southeastern region. In response to this phenomenon, the Southeastern Kidney Transplant Coalition was created in 2011 to increase the KTx rate, and to reduce disparities in access to transplantation in the Southeast, by identifying and reducing barriers in the transplant process.MethodsTo determine perceived barriers and facilitators to KTx that dialysis patients in this region experience, we conducted three focus groups with 40 total patients in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.ResultsWe identified two novel themes specific to Southeastern dialysis patients that describe the major barriers and facilitators to kidney transplantation: dialysis center approaches to patient education about KTx, and dialysis center advocacy and encouragement for KTx. In addition, themes related to barriers and facilitators of KTx were evident that were previously mentioned in the literature such as age, fear, knowing other patients with good or bad experiences with KTx, distrust of the KTx process equity, financial concerns and medical barriers.ConclusionsDialysis providers are encouraged to enhance their delivery of information and active assistance to underserved patients related to KTx.

Factors Associated with Chronic Kidney Disease Self-Management.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affected 26 million U.S. adults. Many end-stage CKD patients undergoing hemodialysis experience self-management challenges. However, factors associated with CKD self-management are underidentified. This article describes a mixed-methods study to identify factors associated with self-management in end-stage CKD patients undergoing hemodialysis. A total of 107 patients age 50 and older were interviewed. Overall, participants had low mean scores for exercise (2.46), communication with physicians (2.50), and cognitive symptom management (0.89) and were adherent for greater than 11 days in a 2-week period with fluid (11.86) and diet (11.65) regimens. There were statistically significant age group differences in the self-management behavior of fluid adherence (p < .05) and communication with physicians (p = .05). None of the respondents discussed communicating with their physicians or cognitive symptom management, yet 90% and 77% of the respondents reported engaging in these behaviors, respectively. The findings from this study support the need for public health social work interventions aimed at increasing self-management behaviors in end-stage CKD patients.

Kidney transplant referral practices in southeastern dialysis units.

The Southeastern Kidney Transplant Coalition was created in 2010 to improve kidney transplant (KTx) rates in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. To identify dialysis staff‐reported barriers to transplant, the Coalition developed a survey of dialysis providers in the region.