To design and implement a care plan template to support shared care planning with patients and carers attending Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) Kidney Supportive Care (KSC) service.

KSC is an interdisciplinary service that spans six outpatient clinic locations and inpatients at RBWH, delivering interdisciplinary care to people with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD). Consumer feedback gathered over the past seven years shows that 35% of respondents attending KSC would like more information from medical appointments.

The Advancing Kidney Care 2026 (AKC2026) Framework states that patients and/or carers should receive a copy of their care plan, documenting their goals, values and preferences for care. There is, however, no validated tool in literature/research.

Lead researcher, RBWH Senior Social Worker Jenny Kirby, and her team will partner with consumers to learn from their lived experience, co-designing a suitable care plan which meets the information needs of patients and carers.

Providing care plans to patients, families and carers will improve patient-centred care and shared decision making.  From the research evidence, reported benefits include increased satisfaction with their care, a better understanding of their illness and ability to cope, and greater involvement of families/carers in decision making. Systematic reviews indicate that written care plans for consumers may improve their ability to remember, use and act upon health-related information.