Employment status and coping strategies of renal patients on hemodialysis

Abstract

Chronic Kidney Disease is a disabling and high-cost chronic disease for patients who suffer from it and their families. When it manifests itself at a productive age and people are active at work, permanence in employment is at risk and the world of life of the patient’s changes in the face of physical damage, constant absences from the workplace, derived from medical consultations, studies and relapses; as well as secondary effects of renal replacement therapy. Faced with this situation, kidney patients of productive age who receive hemodialysis face multiple stressors in their day-to-day life to remain active in the workplace and economically independent. For this reason, they often resort to mechanisms and alternatives to deal with the disease and preserve their employment, autonomy, self-esteem, as well as control over them and the disease. The objective of this research is to describe, based on the experiences of a group of kidney patients of productive age who receive hemodialysis, the coping strategies they use to face the disease, recover their autonomy, self-esteem and control over them and the disease and continue to be active at work, either formally or on their own.