Application of the Family Resilience Framework to Dyadic Shared Decision-Making in Dialysis: An Interpretive Phenomenological Inquiry

Nephrology social workers are trained to assess and address the ecosystemic splits in nephrology care that threaten the resilience of dialysis patients and their families. Given this training and skills, nephrology social workers are ideally positioned to help center the patient and their decision partner in modality decisions that are increasingly influenced by provider incentives to promote home dialysis and transplant utilization. The Family Resilience Framework provides a paradigm for social work assessment and intervention during the iterative process of dyadic dialysis decision-making to develop an individualized care plan that promotes resilience through attunement to dyadic processes.