Improving kidney care for people with severe mental health difficulties: A thematic analysis of personal and family members’ perspectives

Clodagh Cogley*, Jessica Bramham, Kate Bramham, Julie Lynch, Siobhan MacHale, John Holian, Aoife Smith, Claire Carswell, Peter Conlon, Paul D'Alton

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

People with severe mental health difficulties (SMHDs) often have poorer access to kidney healthcare. To better understand the barriers and facilitators to kidney healthcare for this population, we conducted interviews with nine individuals with SMHDs and four family members. Through reflexive thematic analysis, we generated three themes: (1) ‘One size doesn’t fit all’ describes the need for individualised kidney healthcare, adapted to meet the specific needs of each person with a SMHD. (2) ‘You just can’t say, “I’m only dealing with your kidney here”’ describes how fragmentation of physical and mental healthcare services can lead to poorer outcomes for people with SMHDs, underscoring the need for coordinated care. (3) ‘Just treat me with respect’ describes the impact of healthcare provider attitudes. Overall, participants praised the dedication and kindness of renal clinicians. However, some participants also described experiences of stigma and discrimination, and called for additional education for healthcare providers regarding SMHDs.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages15
JournalJournal of Health Psychology
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 19 Jun 2024

Bibliographical note

© The Author(s) 2024

Keywords

  • kidney disease
  • mental health
  • severe mental illness

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