Nife Oladele

Supervisor(s): Dr. Kara Schick-Makaroff
Award: KRESCENT Summer Studentship
Institution: University of Alberta
Year: 2026
Project Title: Engagement by people receiving dialysis with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for depressive symptoms

Biography

Nife Oladele is a first-year nursing student at the University of Alberta. Her passion for nursing is rooted in a desire to provide care for others and improve health outcomes, not only through individual care by empowering patients with evidence-based knowledge, but also by contributing to her community. Under the supervision of Dr. Schick-Makaroff, she strives to contribute to a field of research that promotes meaningful change by supporting real-world application and community outreach to people living with dialysis treatment, along with associated health disparities. As someone living with a congenital kidney condition called Medullary Sponge Kidney, Nife also brings personal lived experience to her interest in kidney research and the broader impacts of kidney function on quality of life. Outside of academics and research, she has a passion for music and community involvement. She is both a pianist and violist, and is a member of the Edmonton Youth Orchestra.

Lay Summary

Background: Many people receiving dialysis experience symptoms of depression that are often unrecognized and untreated. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a promising solution. It is a talk therapy that focuses on improving coping skills and changing negative thoughts and feelings. CBT can reduce symptoms of depression and help people live better with their chronic illnesses. However, CBT can be intensive. It requires active engagement, which could be challenging for people living with a high burden of illness.

Purpose: We will describe engagement by people receiving dialysis with CBT for depressive symptoms.

Method: Forty-two people receiving dialysis participated in therapist-guided CBT for depressive symptoms. Each person received up to ten remotely-delivered CBT sessions. Each session was around 50 minutes long. These sessions were provided by trained CBT therapists and were recorded through an online video platform. The first step of our process will be to clean the transcripts of these CBT sessions. This includes listening to the recording while reading the original transcript. The text is then revised for readability and clarity, while ensuring the accuracy of what was spoken in the sessions. The second step will be to describe each person’s engagement in the CBT sessions. For example, we will note how long each CBT session lasted, where each session took place (i.e., in bed, at dialysis, in a car), the total number of sessions each person attended, and any other notes. This information will be used to inform learnings in the larger project called “Re: CBT Dialysis. A realist evaluation: Why, for whom, and in what circumstances does CBT work for people with depressive symptoms receiving dialysis?”

Anticipated Outcomes: Given the high burden of illness often experienced by people receiving dialysis, we expect that CBT sessions will often be shortened or rescheduled. As well, therapists will need more flexibility to accommodate and support people given the complexity of their health needs.

Patient Engagement: The larger project, “Re: CBT Dialysis” is a patient-oriented research project, co-led by a Community Advisory Committee. The Advisory is comprised of ten patient partners who meet on a monthly basis; they collaborate with researchers and healthcare providers. The Advisors all have different backgrounds with dialysis. They include people with lived experience of dialysis, community members with connections to dialysis, kidney transplant recipients, and family caregivers. Advisors are consulted and engaged in all aspects of this research. Results from this project will also be shared with them during one of our monthly Zoom calls for discussion and their input. The Advisors’ engagement in our research is critical to ensure our collective research is relevant to people receiving dialysis.

Relevance to Patients/Community: Our work can support the increasing recognition of CBT as a beneficial talk-therapy for people living with dialysis. This is important not only because they are adjusting to and coping with dialysis, but also because they may be facing high illness burden and depressive symptoms. But CBT is not easy; it requires engagement. Our research can provide a more complete picture of how people receiving dialysis engage in CBT.

Conclusion: People receiving dialysis often experience symptoms of depression that are unaddressed. CBT can help. Our findings will provide insights about how people receiving dialysis engage in CBT to support person-centred mental health care in dialysis.