Grant: Team Grant - SPOR iCT Rewarding Success - Phase 3

Indigenous populations in Canada have a higher risk of developing kidney failure, but are much less likely to get access to the best treatment for kidney failure - a living donor kidney transplant. There are many reasons that may explain this, but one major barrier is that the Indigenous people with kidney failure are less aware of the benefits of transplantation and have a tough time identifying people who may donate a kidney to them. We recently partnered with Indigenous people who have kidney disease and those that have previously donated their kidney to a loved one to better understand the barriers to transplantation and develop a new program which aims to support Indigenous patients better. The BRIDGE to Transplantation Initiative is a program that will be implemented by the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) in kidney care clinics across BC where Indigenous Patient Liaisons (IPLs) will provide targeted and culturally tailored education about transplantation and living donation to Indigenous people with kidney failure. The education will occur outside of hospitals (usually at Aboriginal Friendship Centres) and will include Indigenous patients and prior living donors. The Initiative also will help patients and potential donors to navigate the medical evaluation for transplantation and donation and coordinate any followup needed after donation. As part of the evaluation of this program, we anticipate that the rates of Indigenous people that are referred for transplantation will double and that the entire process around transplantation will become more culturally safe.