End-of-life (EOL) care planning in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a necessity, but this preparation occurs infrequently and thereby contributes to high health care utilization costs and decreased quality of life (QOL). Patients and families are interested in having conversations about EOL; however, providers are often not comfortable communicating on this topic. To address this communication gap, the Shared Decision-Making and Renal Supportive Care (SDM-RSC) project sought to create an easily replicable model for EOL care planning discussions in hemodialysis (HD) units.
