Background: Latinos with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have worse mental and kidney composite health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores compared to non-Latino ESRD patients. Latino ESRD patients uniquely report that social factors (e.g., lack of care coordination, food insecurity, and low health literacy) and mental health influence their HRQOL. We developed a culturally tailored peer navigator (PN) intervention to improve the HRQOL of Latinos on hemodialysis. Objective: To determine the feasibility of the PN intervention. Design: Single-arm prospective study. The PN provided individualized support with advance care planning, care coordination, and counseling about the importance of diet and mental health. Setting and Participants: Latino with ESRD receiving scheduled outpatient thrice-weekly hemodialysis or reliant on emergency-only hemodialysis in Denver. Main measures: Recruitment, retention rates, data completeness, intervention dose, patient- and staff-reported satisfaction with the intervention. Results: Of 49 eligible patients, 40 (82%) agreed to participate. The majority of participants received scheduled outpatient hemodialysis (75%), 20 were women (50%), with a mean (standard deviation [SD]) age of 56 (13) years. No participants withdrew from the intervention. One participant died. The mean (SD) number of PN visits per participant was 7 (2) and the mean (SD) length of the visits was 97 minutes (49). The majority of visits took place at the hemodialysis facility (59%) and home (27%). The vast majority of participants reported that the PN improved their quality of life as a patient on hemodialysis (95%). Conclusions: The PN intervention achieved feasibility goals and was well received by participants.
Keywords: Latinos; health-related quality of life; hemodialysis; patient navigators; renal failure; undocumented immigrants.