Integration of medical and psychosocial needs of the home hemodialysis patient: implications for the nephrology social worker.

Good patient management of the medical and technical aspects of home hemodialysis may be inversely related to positive psychosocial adjustment to chronic renal failure. The following article explores the interaction between the patient's medical and psychosocial adjustment to home hemodialysis and suggests how the nephrology social worker might help enhance patient adjustment by working at the interface of the various disciplines on the nephrology team, and at the interface between the patient and the team members.