CHE Project

Our study entitled “Improving health equity: Increasing access to living donor kidney transplantation among Chinese Canadians” is a collaboration between the University Health Network, Scarborough Health Network, and the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). The goal of our study is to gain a better understanding of the Chinese Canadian community’s knowledge, understanding and experiences with the health care system and, if relevant, the nephrology pathway. Further, we wish to understand the community’s thoughts and feelings about kidney disease and options for treatment, especially LDKT.

By conducting in-depth, individual interviews and/or focus groups with members of the Chinese Canadian community, we will explore their attitudes, beliefs, and perspectives related to living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT). In addition, we will further identify any specific information needs of Chinese Canadian patients and collect relevant feedback that will allow us to tailor our program toward Chinese Canadian patients. Ultimately, through the work conducted in this project, we aim to create culturally competent resources about KT and LDKT, available to patients in Mandarin and Cantonese.

Chronic kidney disease can be caused by a number of conditions and can lead to kidney failure. From a medical perspective, living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) is considered the best treatment option for kidney failure.

However, research conducted by our team and others suggests that ethnocultural disparities in access to kidney transplantation (KT) and living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) are present in Canada. Thus, there is a need to develop a stronger understanding of the underlying causes of such disparities and apply these research findings toward the development and implementation of interventions to improve access to LDKT. For example, study findings may contribute to the design of culturally competent resources regar

Canadian research suggests that East Asians are less likely to receive a transplant compared to White Canadians. This inequity was most profound for access to living donor kidney transplant, with East Asians having a 73% lower likelihood of receiving a living donor kidney transplant compared to White Canadians. This was after adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical variables. Furthermore, Asian-Canadians had a 30 to 60 percent lower odds compared to Caucasians to having a living donor identified at the time of their first assessment for a kidney transplant. Very few patients who did not have a potential living donor identified at the time of referral received a living donor kidney transplant at a later date.

NATIONAL AND LOCAL PARTNERS

The 2.5 year project builds on the work of co-principal investigators, Dr. Istvan Mucsi and Dr. Jag Gill. It was developed and will be implemented in collaboration with national and local partners including: