Amy Waterman - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Amy Waterman

American Journal of Transplantation Official Journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, Jul 1, 2006

Although paired donation, list donation and nondirected donation allow more recipients to receive... more Although paired donation, list donation and nondirected donation allow more recipients to receive living donor transplants, policy makers do not know how willing incompatible potential donors are to participate. We surveyed 174 potential donors ruled out for ABO-incompatibility or positive cross-match about their participation willingness. They were more willing to participate in paired donation as compared to list donation where the recipient receives the next deceased donor kidney (63.8% vs. 37.9%, p < 0.001) or non-directed donation (63.8% vs. 12.1%, p < 0.001). Their list donation willingness was greater when their intended recipients moved to the top versus the top 20% of the waiting list (37.9% vs. 19.0%, p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression modeling revealed that potential donors' empathy, education level, relationship with their intended recipient and the length of time their intended recipient was on dialysis also affected willingness. For paired donation, close family members of their intended recipient (odds ratio (OR) = 3.01, confidence intervals (CI) = 1.29, 7.02), with high levels of empathy (OR = 2.68, CI = 1.16, 6.21) and less than a college education (OR = 2.67, CI = 1.08, 6.61) were more willing to participate compared to other donors. Extrapolating these levels of willingness nationally, a 1-11% increase in living donation rates yearly (84-711 more transplants) may be possible if donor-exchange programs were available nationwide.

Archives of Internal Medicine, 2006

Background: A gap exists between patients' desire to be told about medical errors and present pra... more Background: A gap exists between patients' desire to be told about medical errors and present practice. Little is known about how physicians approach disclosure. The objective of the present study was to describe how physicians disclose errors to patients.

Clinical Transplants, 2005

Over the past few years, significant progress has been made in the science and development of pai... more Over the past few years, significant progress has been made in the science and development of paired donation. With increasing awareness of paired donation and ready availability of the tools necessary to establish new consortia, paired donation can be made available to transplant programs and patients with increasing alacrity. Increasing registration of recipients and their donors for paired donation will lead to larger pools for matching and to transplantation of increasing numbers of patients via paired donation. As paired donation becomes common practice throughout the US and the international transplant community, its role in facilitating transplantation of sensitized patients will be better defined. Presently, paired donation remains an attractive alternative to desensitization and wait list paired donation for a majority of patients with preexisting humoral immunity to their donors.

Journal of General Internal Medicine, Apr 1, 2006

Progress in Transplantation, Apr 1, 2009

With more than 10,0000 patients waiting for organs on the waiting list, we have our work cut out ... more With more than 10,0000 patients waiting for organs on the waiting list, we have our work cut out for us. Transplant education, when done well, can help patients make informed choices and may increase the number of individuals who donate organs before or after their death. The authors in the December 2008 and March 2009 issues of Progress in Transplantation suggest modifications to improve how transplant and organ donation education is administered; we recommend that these suggestions be used in research and educational interventions nationwide.

Progress in Transplantation, Jun 1, 2011

Journal of health psychology, Jan 25, 2015

Living donor kidney transplant is the ideal treatment option for end-stage renal disease; however... more Living donor kidney transplant is the ideal treatment option for end-stage renal disease; however, the decision to pursue living donor kidney transplant is complex and challenging. Measurement invariance of living donor kidney transplant Decisional Balance and Self-Efficacy across gender (male/female), race (Black/White), and education level (no college/college or higher) were examined using a sequential approach. Full strict invariance was found for Decisional Balance and Self-Efficacy for gender and partial strict invariance was found for Decisional Balance and Self-Efficacy across race and education level. This information will inform tailored feedback based on these constructs in future intervention studies targeting behavior change among specific demographic subgroups.

BMC Nephrology, 2015

Compared to others, dialysis patients who are socioeconomically disadvantaged or Black are less l... more Compared to others, dialysis patients who are socioeconomically disadvantaged or Black are less likely to receive education about deceased donor kidney transplant (DDKT) and living donor kidney transplant (LDKT) before they reach transplant centers, often due to limited availability of transplant education within dialysis centers. Since these patients are often less knowledgeable or ready to pursue transplant, educational content must be simplified, made culturally sensitive, and presented gradually across multiple sessions to increase learning and honor where they are in their decision-making about transplant. The Explore Transplant at Home (ETH) program was developed to help patients learn more about DDKT and LDKT at home, with and without telephone conversations with an educator. In this randomized controlled trial (RCT), 540 low-income Black and White dialysis patients with household incomes at or below 250 % of the federal poverty line, some of whom receive financial assistance from the Missouri Kidney Program, will be randomly assigned to one of three education conditions: (1) standard-of-care transplant education provided by the dialysis center, (2) patient-guided ETH (ETH-PG), and (3) health educator-guided ETH (ETH-EG). Patients in the standard-of-care condition will only receive education provided in their dialysis centers. Those in the two ETH conditions will receive four video and print modules delivered over an 8 month period by mail, with the option of receiving supplementary text messages weekly. In addition, patients in the ETH-EG condition will participate in multiple telephonic educational sessions with a health educator. Changes in transplant knowledge, decisional balance, self-efficacy, and informed decision making will be captured with surveys administered before and after the ETH education. At the conclusion of this RCT, we will have determined whether an education program administered to socioeconomically disadvantaged dialysis patients, over several months directly in their homes, can help more individuals learn about the options of DDKT and LDKT. We also will be able to examine the efficacy of different educational delivery approaches to further understand whether the addition of a telephone educator is necessary for increasing transplant knowledge. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02268682.

American Journal of Transplantation

Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN, Jan 20, 2015

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires that dialysis centers inform new pati... more The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires that dialysis centers inform new patients of their transplant options and document compliance using the CMS-2728 Medical Evidence Form (Form-2728). This study compared reports of transplant education for new dialysis patients reported to CMS with descriptions from transplant educators (predominantly dialysis nurses and social workers) of their centers' quantity of and specific educational practices. The goal was to determine what specific transplant education occurred and whether provision of transplant education was associated with center-level variation in transplant wait-listing rates. Form-2728 data were drawn for 1558 incident dialysis patients at 170 centers in the Heartland Kidney Network (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska) in 2009-2011; educators at these centers completed a survey describing their transplant educational practices. Educators' own survey responses were compared with Form-2728 reports for p...

Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN, Jan 26, 2015

Living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) offers better quality of life and clinical outcomes, i... more Living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) offers better quality of life and clinical outcomes, including patient survival, compared with remaining on dialysis or receiving a deceased donor kidney transplant. Although LDKT education within transplant centers for both potential recipients and living donors is very important, outreach and education to kidney patients in settings other than transplant centers and to the general public is also critical to increase access to this highly beneficial treatment. In June 2014, the American Society of…

Progress in transplantation (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), 2015

Despite the known benefits of kidney transplant, less than 30% of the 615 000 patients living wit... more Despite the known benefits of kidney transplant, less than 30% of the 615 000 patients living with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States have received a transplant. More than 100 000 people are presently on the transplant waiting list. Although the shortage of kidneys for transplant remains a critical factor in explaining lower transplant rates, another important and modifiable factor is patients' lack of comprehensive education about transplant. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of known best practices from the broader literature that can be used as an evidence base to design improved education for ESRD patients pursuing a kidney transplant. Best practices in chronic disease education generally reveal that education that is individually tailored, understandable for patients with low health literacy, and culturally competent is most beneficial. Effective education helps patients navigate the complex health care process successfully. Recommendati...

Progress in transplantation (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), 2011

Progress in transplantation (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), 2009

Clinical transplants, 2005

Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety / Joint Commission Resources, 2007

A clear understanding of patients' understanding and perceived risk of medical errors is need... more A clear understanding of patients' understanding and perceived risk of medical errors is needed. Multiwave telephone interviews were conducted in 2002 with 1,656 inpatients from 12 Midwestern hospitals regarding patients' conceptualization of medical errors and perceived risk of seven types of medical errors. Patients defined medical errors to include not only clinical mistakes but also falls, communication problems, and responsiveness. Ninety-four percent of respondents reported their medical safety as good, very good, or excellent, but 39% experienced at least one error-related concern, most commonly medication errors (17% of respondents), nursing mistakes (15%), and problems with medical equipment (10%). Frequency of concerns was associated with reduced willingness to recommend the hospital (p < .001). If patients' definition of medical errors is broader than the traditional medical definition, providers should clarify the term "error" to ensure effective...