# integrating conservative kidney management options and advance care planning into a pre-dialysis educational program

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2021 · $141,552

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Pre-dialysis education programs are the standard of care for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease
(CKD) to learn about their options for treatment of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). However, these programs
do not usually include education about conservative kidney management (CKM) or advance care planning.
Informed decision-making about dialysis treatments becomes especially important for elderly and frail patients
with advanced CKD as they may experience frequent hospitalizations, poor quality of life, and early death once
they are initiated on dialysis. There are also racial disparities in dialysis knowledge, advance care planning and
end-of-life (EOL) preferences between Black and White patients with advanced CKD that have been attributed
to Blacks having less understanding of their treatment options. Advance care planning education has been
used to improve decision-making among diverse cohorts of chronic hemodialysis patients however the
integration of CKM and advance care planning education into pre-dialysis education programs in order to
improve knowledge and communication of care options while also reducing racial disparities has not been well
studied. The proposed scientific program has three research aims: (1) To conduct an open pilot study of an
educational intervention (Conservative Kidney Management Options and Advance Care Planning Education –
COPE) that is integrated into standard pre-dialysis education among frail and elderly patients with advanced
CKD to assess its feasibility and acceptability, (2) To test, in a pilot randomized controlled trial, the preliminary
efficacy of COPE on improving knowledge of CKM and advance care planning and increasing communication
about ESRD treatment and EOL care preferences among frail and elderly patients with advanced CKD, and (3)
To explore whether COPE reduces racial disparities in CKM and advance care planning knowledge as well as
communication of ESRD and EOL care preferences among Black and White frail and elderly patients with
advanced CKD. Dr. Eneanya proposes a career development program that includes methodological training
and mentorship by senior faculty to develop and evaluate knowledge assessment tools, engage effectively with
seriously ill patient populations, and pilot an intervention to detect racial differences in treatment knowledge
and end-of-life communication. The long-term goal of this career development award is to develop Dr.
Eneanya into an independent health services researcher with expertise in survey research methods, informed
decision-making models of care, and clinical trials among minority and renal populations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10178004
- **Project number:** 5K23DK114526-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Nwamaka Eneanya
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $141,552
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2022-03-16

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10178004

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10178004, integrating conservative kidney management options and advance care planning into a pre-dialysis educational program (5K23DK114526-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10178004. Licensed CC0.

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