Faculty Research: Adriana Glenn

What research are you working on now?

We seek to enhance patient/provider interactions via the virtual healthcare space. Using an existing telehealth E-empathy guide designed for kidney care providers on how to project empathy in a telehealth environment to provide supportive care of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) as a foundation, we are cultural targeting the development of a guide to facilitate telehealth care for patients identifying as Black/African-American and have CKD. The adapted guide is not meant to be used “instead of” the original guide but allows another option for providers to use if they experience challenges in conducting goals of care conversations via telehealth with patients who identify as Black/African-American.

Why is this work important?

CKD in Black patients, when combined with advances in telehealth for individualized care, conversations regarding life goals and palliative care, and the lingering traumatic impact of racism within the healthcare system, points to an area of nursing care that deserves attention. Implicit bias and perceived discrimination lead to mistrust and poor outcomes in personal care encounters; these same factors also impact telehealth. However, little is known about how to mitigate this issue in the telehealth environment. CKD is a significant condition in the Black community. While Blacks are about 13% of the nation’s population, they

constitute 35% of patients with CKD and are almost 4x as likely to develop kidney failure. Current CKD research does not address content for sensitive topics such as advance care planning, life preferences, and goals in the sub-population of Black/AA patients. When these trends are combined, we see a gap in the convergence of telehealth, sensitive palliative care topics, and Black patient cultural experiences. This project begins to fill that gap.

What are the potential policy implications of your work?

Results from this study will help in addressing health equity issues centering on therapeutic communication. Black patients will experience a more rewarding telehealth interaction because their preferences and values will be better integrated, improving health outcomes and reducing mental distress. Furthermore, providers will engage more confidently in care conversations with their Black/AA patients.