Demographic Predictors of the Perceived Likelihood of Hiring a Health Care Advocate

Background and Significance: The field of health care advocacy developed in response to the growing complexity of the health care system. A Health Care Advocate (HCA) is a trained professional who can help patients navigate the health care system. In the present study we investigated the effects of social support, number of people with whom individuals reside, gender, age, income, and race on the perceived likelihood of hiring an HCA for oneself. Method: Nine hundred and eighty-seven adults (Mage = 45.48 years, SD = 17.33 years, 55.4% female) were randomly selected and asked to complete a questionnaire. To explore the relationships of the perceived likelihood of hiring an HCA, path-analytic models using full-information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation were tested, using Stata 12.1. Results: The model fit well statistically, ? 2 (5, N = 987) = 8.50, p = 0.131, and descriptively, CFI = 0.999, RMSEA = 0.027, pclose = 0.891, CD = 0.205. Conclusion: Overall, the model accounted for 4.30% of the variance in Hire HCA. More research is needed to better understand the role of an HCA in our complex and everchanging health care system

Establishing core outcome domains in pediatric kidney disease: report of the Standardized Outcomes in Nephrology—Children and Adolescents (SONG-KIDS) consensus workshops

Trials in children with chronic kidney disease do not consistently report outcomes that are critically important to patients and caregivers. This can diminish the relevance and reliability of evidence for decision making, limiting the implementation of results into practice and policy. As part of the Standardized Outcomes in Nephrology—Children and Adolescents (SONG-Kids) initiative, we convened 2 consensus workshops in San Diego, California (7 patients, 24 caregivers, 43 health professionals) and Melbourne, Australia (7 patients, 23 caregivers, 49 health professionals). This report summarizes the discussions on the identification and implementation of the SONG-Kids core outcomes set. Four themes were identified; survival and life participation are common high priority goals, capturing the whole child and family, ensuring broad relevance across the patient journey, and requiring feasible and valid measures. Stakeholders supported the inclusion of mortality, infection, life participation, and kidney function as the core outcomes domains for children with chronic kidney disease