Title : Psychosocial Dimensions on adherence to treatment regime in hemodialysis: A crossover between Social Work and Neurology
Abstract:
The aim of the present communication is to share some results of the data analysis of a PhD Social Work investigation in progress in Portugal, that focus the determinant factors of adherence to treatment regime in the context of end-stage renal disease. In the field of chronic and epidemic diseases, where chronic kidney disease is included, is possible to identify many psychosocial dimensions associated with these disease and neurological complications that can interfere with daily lives of the patients.
Scientific research points that there are links between the impairments of the kidney and cognitive decline and cerebrovascular diseases. The brain and the kidney share common and traditional risk factors, like hypertension and diabetes, which can lead to vascular injury. Social factors in a chronic disease, can determinate the progression of a illness and influence adherence to treatment. The social health determinants and the social conditions of disadvantage can compromise and cause health impacts in the lifespan of people and maxime psychosocial problems.
The non-adherence to a treatment regime, is considered a public health problem and an important issue in chronic kidney disease but also in other diseases with long therapies, because of the impacts in the health system and in the suboptimal results of the treatments in the patients.
Social Work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development (ISFW, 2014) where the interdisciplinary knowledge contributions play a role in the development of a kaleidoscopic vision of the social reality. Social workers are the professional that in the health field contributes to the multidisciplinary team objectives, with the social assessment for the biopsychosocial approach, evaluate the person-in-context and promotes the adherence to treatment regime. For social work the knowledge of cerebral and nervous systems foundations contributes for a better understanding of social problems that social workers deal in every day, and with chronic diseases linked with brain disorders. In this paper we entend to analyse psychosocial dimensions on these field.
What will audience learn from your presentation?
- To give an aplied perspective of psychosocial determinants in the social phenomena of adherence to treatment in the context of end-stage renal disease.
- To reflect on how these contributions may or may not inform the practice of social intervention with people on a hemodialysis program.
- The analysis will entail a correlation between the Social Work and neurology in end-stage renal disease in adherence to treatment regime.
