Publications by authors named "Leighann Sauls"
Article Synopsis
- The review highlights the Southeastern Kidney Transplant Coalition's mission to enhance kidney transplant access and address inequities through community and academic collaboration.
- It identifies that challenges to kidney transplant access involve various factors that differ from those affecting referral and evaluation processes, requiring ongoing community involvement.
- The importance of community-based strategies is emphasized to ensure that regional disparities in transplant access are identified and effectively tackled over time.
Georgia has the lowest kidney transplant rates in the United States and substantial racial disparities in transplantation. We determined the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention to increase referral of patients on dialysis for transplant evaluation in the Reducing Disparities in Access to kidNey Transplantation Community Study (RaDIANT), a randomized, dialysis facility-based, controlled trial involving >9000 patients receiving dialysis from 134 dialysis facilities in Georgia. In December of 2013, we selected dialysis facilities with either low transplant referral or racial disparity in referral.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Southeastern Kidney Transplant Coalition was created in 2010 to improve kidney transplant (KTx) rates in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. To identify dialysis staff-reported barriers to transplant, the Coalition developed a survey of dialysis providers in the region.
Methods: All dialysis units in the ESRD Network (n = 586) were sent a survey to be completed by the professional responsible for helping patients get transplants.
Background: Little is known about the impact of dialysis facility treatment philosophy on access to transplant. The aim of our study was to determine the relationship between the dialysis facility transplant philosophy and facility-level access to kidney transplant waitlisting.
Methods: A 25-item questionnaire administered to Southeastern dialysis facilities (n = 509) in 2012 captured the facility transplant philosophy (categorized as 'transplant is our first choice', 'transplant is a great option for some', and 'transplant is a good option, if the patient is interested').
Importance: Dialysis facilities in the United States are required to educate patients with end-stage renal disease about all treatment options, including kidney transplantation. Patients receiving dialysis typically require a referral for kidney transplant evaluation at a transplant center from a dialysis facility to start the transplantation process, but the proportion of patients referred for transplantation is unknown.
Objective: To describe variation in dialysis facility-level referral for kidney transplant evaluation and factors associated with referral among patients initiating dialysis in Georgia, the US state with the lowest kidney transplantation rates.
Background: The Southeastern United States has the lowest kidney transplant rates in the nation, and racial disparities in kidney transplant access are concentrated in this region. The Southeastern Kidney Transplant Coalition (SEKTC) of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina is an academic and community partnership that was formed with the mission to improve access to kidney transplantation and reduce disparities among African American (AA) end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients in the Southeastern United States.
Methods/design: We describe the community-based participatory research (CBPR) process utilized in planning the Reducing Disparities In Access to kidNey Transplantation (RaDIANT) Community Study, a trial developed by the SEKTC to reduce health disparities in access to kidney transplantation among AA ESRD patients in Georgia, the state with the lowest kidney transplant rates in the nation.
Background: Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are at high risk of complications from influenza, but many dialysis centers report <50% influenza immunization coverage.
Study Design: A group-randomized evaluation of a multicomponent intervention to increase influenza vaccination rates in poorly performing dialysis centers in ESRD Networks 6, 11, and 15.
Setting & Participants: Facilities with the lowest immunization percentages in 2006-2007 were selected from each network and randomly assigned to a standard (n = 39) or intensive intervention (n = 38).
Background: Patients with end-stage renal disease are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality because of infection. Quality improvement efforts for this patient population include assessment of institutional policies and practices that may increase vaccination rates for influenza, hepatitis B, and pneumococcal disease.
Study Design: A survey of vaccination practices, beliefs, and attitudes was sent to all dialysis centers in End-Stage Renal Disease Networks 6, 11, and 15.