American Kidney Fund's Kidney Health Coach Online Course Improved Confidence, Knowledge, and Practice Intentions among Health Care Professionals

Background: People at-risk for or living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have unique care needs that health care professionals (HCPs) must be prepared to meet. However, there is limited HCP training and education on CKD prevention and management, especially among allied health care. To address this need, the American Kidney Fund (AKF) created Kidney Health Coach (KHC) a community health education program that trains HCPs and lay audiences to educate their patients and the community about preventing and managing CKD. KHC includes a 2-hour online training course discussing disparities and burden of CKD, diagnosis and treatment options, prevention strategies, and best practices to tailor health information for specific audiences. Methods: AKF analyzed online course self-reported pre- and post-evaluation data to assess differences in HCP coaches’ (n=2,160) confidence (4-5 on 6-point Likert scale), knowledge, and intention to make practice changes in their role or clinical setting. Data were stratified by provider type to assess for differences. Results: Most HCP coaches are nurses (26%), dialysis technicians (DT) (15%), and social workers (SW) (14%). Pre- and post-evaluation comparisons revealed HCP confidence in knowledge about CKD increased 57% to 95% and confidence in ability to educate others about CKD increased 54% to 91%. Nurses had the highest average increase in confidence (61%) compared to DTs (45%) and SWs (51%). Post only evaluation data revealed 89% of HCPs are confident KHC improved their ability to better function as a member of the health care team and 64% indicated they would make changes in their practice or role. Compared to DTs (61%) and SWs (57%), nurses (68%) were most likely to make changes in their practice or role. Conclusion: Findings support the need for CKD education and training of HCPs across practice settings. KHC is an effective tool that provides HCPs with up-to-date clinical content and best practices in plain language and health literacy. KHC enhanced HCP confidence and knowledge in CKD prevention and management, which leads to HCPs who are better equipped to meet the needs of their patients. Further outreach is needed to build capacity among HCPs to be responsive to the needs of people at-risk for or living with CKD.