By: Equity, Research & Programs Portfolio 

The National Health Council’s (NHC), Patient Experience Mapping Toolbox (PEMT) was designed with the purpose of equipping researchers to understand patients’ experiences before obtaining a diagnosis, while obtaining a diagnosis, and living with a diagnosis. Since the inception of the PEMT, the NHC has applied the evidence-based and disease-agnostic tool to numerous areas in the health care system. These include understanding the patient’s experience through provider-patient shared decision making, mapping the experiences of patients with food allergies, and now in chronic kidney disease (CKD).  

In partnership with the American Kidney Fund (AKF), the NHC has embarked on a patient experience mapping research project aimed at understanding the complexities of patients with CKD. Specifically, this project will be centered on advancing health equity by capturing the experiences of African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian Americans patients.  

On March 27, the NHC’s, Equity, Research & Programs staff held a training session with key leaders of the AKF that provided an overview of the PEMT and best practices for conducting qualitative data through key informant interviews. This added PEMT training is the first of its kind for the NHC. Our commitment to developing evidence-based resources is to bolster the expertise of our members in patient-centered research within specific disease or therapeutic areas 

This project is currently underway with the expected patient interviews to commence this summer. For any questions related to this project, please contact Dr. Omar A. Escontrías, Senior Vice President, Equity, Research & Programs.