An Individuation Intervention to Reduce Socioeconomic Disparities in Chronic Kidney Disease Care

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to test whether an individuation intervention can improve the quality of chronic kidney disease (CKD) care for patients with low socioeconomic status (SES) and to understand the mechanisms through which the intervention may improve care delivery and clinical outcomes. The study will involve nephrologists and their patients with CKD, with a focus on reducing healthcare disparities associated with low SES. Researchers will compare nephrologists who receive the individuation intervention with those in the control group to determine whether encouraging physicians to better understand their patients as unique individuals, rather than relying on assumptions associated with socioeconomic status, improves the quality of CKD care for patients with low SES.

Eligibility

Age range

18+ years

Sex

All

Healthy volunteers

No

Interventions

• Behavioral
  Individuation + Implicit Bias Training

  This includes nephrologists taking Implicit Association Tests (IATs) and an unconscious bias in medicine course (\~45-60 min.) Those in the intervention arm will then meet with the study team for a 5-10-minute training on individuation, including examples of individuation-based questions. Nephrologists will be encouraged to design and tailor these questions to their own communication styles to facilitate natural conversations about patients' personal characteristics beyond their medical conditions. Each nephrologist will decide how to incorporate this into their visits (e.g., a smartphrase in a note template).

• Behavioral
  Implicit Bias Training Alone

  This includes nephrologists taking Implicit Association Tests (IATs) and an unconscious bias in medicine course (\~45-60 min.)

Location