Perception of Patients/Family and Healthcare Practitioners on Palliative Care as alternative to dialysis in the treatment of end stage Kidney disease in Kumasi Metropolis

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to establish patients/family and healthcare practitioners’ perception on palliative care as alternative to dialysis in the treatment of End Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) in Kumasi Metropolis. A descriptive qualitative with phenomenological overtone research design was used for this study. A purposive sampling technique was used to obtain 17 participants (8 health care practitioners, 6 patients and 3 family members) out of 30 healthcare practitioners and 32 patients in all the three centres in Kumasi Metropolis. The respondents’ perception on palliative care as alternative to dialysis in the management of ESKD was evaluated using face to face interview. The findings of the study indicated most respondents elaborated that, palliative care is the treatment given to patients whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment. Most of the respondents perceived that patients’ living with chronic diseases will die but to promote peaceful death, quality of life should be offered through palliative care. It is concluded that at the advanced stage of ESKD where dialysis will not improve quality of life, palliative nursing care is the alternative treatment to dialysis in the management of ESKD. It is recommended that treatment options should be made available for patient/family to make informed choice. Palliative care as an alternative management for ESKD should be part of the treatment options in the management of all patients/family with ESKD.