Psychosocial well-being among individuals with chronic kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis treatment and their caregivers: a protocol of a mixed method study in Sri Lanka and Poland

Darshika Thejani Bulathwatta; Judyta Borchet; Agata Rudnik; Mariola Bidzan

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1194991

Psychosocial well-being among individuals with chronic kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis treatment and their caregivers: a protocol of a mixed method study in Sri Lanka and Poland

Front Psychol. 2023 Dec 7:14:1194991. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1194991. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Darshika Thejani Bulathwatta^{1

2

3

4}, Judyta Borchet^{2

5}, Agata Rudnik^{2

3

5}, Mariola Bidzan^{2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology and Counseling, Faculty of Health Sciences, The Open University of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
² Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk, Gdansk, Poland.
³ Academic Center for Psychological Support, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland.
⁴ Ateneum-University in Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland.
⁵ Institute of Pedagogy and Languages, University of Applied Sciences in Elbląg, Elbląg, Poland.

Abstract

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) can be identified as one of the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which affect millions of people worldwide, including in Sri Lanka and Poland. The prevalence of CKD has been rising over the last three decades due to the identification of CKD with unknown etiology and the increment of NCDs such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus among the Sri Lankan population. Poland can be identified as a European country that has 4 million patients with CKD, which is the second most common chronic disease in the country. CKD is associated with the physical, economic, psychological, and social burden on patients and their caregivers. The current study is aimed to investigate the psychosocial well-being of CKD patients and their caregivers in Sri Lanka and Poland. The current study is a mixed-method study aimed to investigate the psychosocial well-being of individuals with chronic kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis and their caregivers in Sri Lanka and Poland. Participants in the quantitative part of the project will be individuals with chronic kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis from Sri Lanka (n = 63) and Poland (n = 63) who are currently undergoing hemodialysis treatment. Kidney Disease Quality of Life-Sort Form, Beck Depression Scale, Test of Self-Conscious Affect, The Courtauld Emotional Control Scale, Acceptance of Illness Scale, and a demographic and medical information sheet will be used in both Sri Lankan and Polish samples. Apart from that, the qualitative phase of the study will involve semi-structured interviews with individuals diagnosed with CKD, selected randomly from the initial part of the research, and their close relatives. Notably, the participant count will remain undetermined, as this approach addresses the inherent challenges of exploratory research.

Keywords: acceptance of illness; caregivers; chronic kidney disease; emotional suppression; mixed-method study; psychosocial well-being; shame and guilt-proneness.

Grants and funding

DB was financed by the Financial Assistance to University Teachers for Higher Studies from the University Grant Commission, Sri Lanka; grant number UGC/VC/DRIC/PG2020/OUSL/03. The work was supported by the publishing support program of the University of Gdansk.