Eleanor Rivera

Assistant Professor of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago

Areas of Expertise:

Health Care

Connect with Eleanor

About Eleanor

Dr. Rivera's research is focused on developing strategies to tailor healthcare delivery to patients' needs, preferences, and lived experience of their illness. By treating patient perspectives as critical clinical data, we can improve health outcomes for our patients through shared decision-making and contextual care planning. Dr. Rivera's research interests include chronic kidney disease, patient centered outcomes, self-management, gerontology, and health disparities.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | Member Spotlight | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Chronic Kidney Disease Often Goes Undiagnosed, but Early Detection Can Prevent Severe Outcomes

Commentary, March 2025

Publications

"Older Adult and Family Caregiver Perspectives on Engagement in Primary Care" (with Karen B Hirschman, Justine S. Sefcik, Kathleen McCauley, Alexandra L. Hanlon, Mark V. Pauly, Matthew J. Press, and Mary D. Naylor). Journal of Gerontological Nursing 48, no. 11 (2022): 7–13.

Explores the experiences of older adults and family caregivers in primary care and offers insights for enhancing person-centered primary care for older adults.

"Treatment Adherence in CKD and Support from Health Care Providers: A Qualitative Study" (with Maya N. Clark-Cutaia, Sarah J. Schrauben, Raymond R. Townsend, James P. Lash, Mary Hannan, Bernard G. Jaar, Hernan Rincon-Choles, Sheru Kansal, Jiang He, Jing Chen, and Karen B. Hirschman). Kidney Medecine 4, no. 11 (2022).

Explores the lived experience of patients living with chronic kidney disease, and to what extent their healthcare needs are supported by their healthcare providers.

"Exploring the Evidence: Symptom Burden in Chronic Kidney Disease" (with Maya N. Clark-Cutaia, Christin Iroegbu, Gavin Arneson, Rebecca Deng, and Joyce K. Anastasi). Nephrology Nursing Journal 49, no. 3 (2022): 227-255.

Examines the symptom burden in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Highlights how symptom burden in CKD is influenced by psychosocial and demographic factors, and stresses the need for effective symptom management strategies.

"Caregiver Engagement Enhances Outcomes among Randomized Control Trials of Transitional Care Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" (with Kristin Levoy, Molly McHugh, Alexandra Hanlon, Karen Hirschman, and Mary Naylor). Medical Care 60, no. 7 (2022): 519–529.

Examines the role of caregiver engagement in transitional care interventions (TCIs) for chronically ill adults. Finds that TCIs significantly reduced rehospitalizations after two months, but only when caregivers were actively involved.

"Adult Health Behaviors Associated with Chronic Kidney Disease: 2003-2006 NHANES Data" (with Maya N. Clark-Cutaia, Jule Ann Henstenberg, Laura Grunin, and Gary Yu). Journal of Nephrology & Renal Therapy (2021).

Examines how healthy behaviors vary across different stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in adults. Finds that as CKD progressed, unhealthy patterns became more common—such as reduced physical activity, poor sleep, low healthy eating scores, and functional mobility issues.

"Disparities in Chronic Kidney Disease-The State of the Evidence" (with Maya N. Clark-Cutaia, Eleanor Rivera, Christin Iroegbu, and Allison Squires). Current Opinion in Nephrology and Hypertension 30, no. 2 (2021): 208-214.

Assesses the prevalence of United States chronic kidney disease (CKD) health disparities, focusing on racial/ethnic groups, immigrants and refugees, sex or gender, and older adults.