Goals: The Secret Ingredient for Success

2024-09-23T13:56:06-04:00September 23rd, 2024|Categories: Quality of Life, Staying Healthy, The Kidney Citizen, Uncategorized|

Eniola King, MPsy, PsyD Candidate, Institute for the Psychological Sciences Stacy Ogbeide, PsyD, ABPP, Board Certified Clinical Health Psychologist, UT Health San Antonio Goals, goals, and more goals – a topic important for those living with chronic kidney disease and going through dialysis. Self-management is one of the hallmarks of having a chronic disease, yet many people living with chronic conditions do not know where to start. If you feel stuck in the management of chronic kidney disease or your options are no longer working, setting goals that are “SMART,” or specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and [...]

2023-09-06 Instagram Live – Kidney Q&A

2024-03-28T20:57:16-04:00September 6th, 2023|Categories: Podcast, Uncategorized|

IG Live – September 6th: Join DPC Education Center’s healthcare consultant, Dr. Velma Scantlebury, as she answers patients’ kidney questions on the latest episode of the podcast. Find out what happens if a living kidney donor needs a kidney later in life and what your doctor means if they say you have a "sleep kidney". If the upcoming fall has you wondering what you should do for vaccinations, including the new COVID-19 booster, tune in to hear Dr. Scantlebury provide some advice for vaccine scheduling. Additionally, she touches on the importance of caretaker or family vaccines when living a kidney patient, as [...]

Advanced Care Planning: Turning “What If?” Into “Here’s How”

2024-03-28T20:57:51-04:00October 27th, 2022|Categories: Quality of Life, The Kidney Citizen, Uncategorized|

By David L. Mahoney, MD, FASN, FASDIN A number of years ago, I attended a lecture on Advance Care Planning. The speaker was a very engaging man who had recently dealt with end-of-life issues for a loved one. There were about 150 people in attendance at the lecture, which began with a series of questions: “How many of you have life insurance?” Virtually every hand in the room went up. “How many of you have a will?” About three quarters of the hands were raised. “How many of you have a living will?” About 10% of hands were raised [...]

Just how accurate are rapid antigen tests? Two testing experts explain the latest data

2024-03-28T20:58:02-04:00July 1st, 2022|Categories: eNews, Immunizations, Staying Healthy, Uncategorized|Tags: |

Once in short supply, rapid antigen tests are now available throughout the U.S. Nathaniel Hafer, UMass Chan Medical School and Apurv Soni, UMass Chan Medical School As of May 2022, the U.S. is experiencing another uptick in the number of COVID-19 cases. High rates of infection in Europe and Asia, along with the continued emergence of new sub-variants, such as omicron BA.4 and BA.5, raise concerns that another surge could be on the way. Even though demand for COVID-19 tests greatly overwhelmed supply earlier in the pandemic, rapid home tests are more available today. While home tests provide a quick, [...]

DPC’s State Advocacy Efforts Flourish with Elevated Voice of DPC Patient Ambassadors

2024-03-28T20:58:09-04:00April 25th, 2022|Categories: Costs for Treatment, Kidney Transplant, The Kidney Citizen, Uncategorized|

Image: Medigap champion Kentucky State Rep. Tom Burch and Elizabeth Lively, DPC Eastern Region Advocacy Director By Kelly Goss, J.D., LL.M., Western Region Advocacy Director and Elizabeth Lively, Eastern Region Advocacy Director, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) It’s been a busy start in 2022 for DPC’s state advocacy efforts. Many states are holding shorter legislative sessions due to the upcoming primary elections, and several bills impacting dialysis patients have been introduced and are moving quickly through the legislative process. Legislation to expand Medigap access has been introduced in Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Improving access [...]

How to Have Difficult End-of-Life Conversations

2024-03-28T20:58:38-04:00January 27th, 2022|Categories: eNews, Mental Health, Quality of Life, Stress Management, Uncategorized|

Although death is an inevitable part of life, it can be a difficult subject to discuss with loved ones. We worry about upsetting our family or seeming too morbid, but having these conversations can actually be extremely helpful in minimizing the stress of loved ones once we’ve passed. Especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, people may not have as much time from receiving a diagnosis to when they die, and many families have found themselves in situations where they don’t know their family member’s last wishes. For these reasons, it has become even more important to discuss advance care planning with our [...]

Kidney Communi­ty Blocks Threats to Charitable Assistance and Dialysis Funding in California

2024-03-28T20:59:21-04:00March 18th, 2019|Categories: The Kidney Citizen, Uncategorized|

By Megan Hashbarger, Director of Congressional and State Relations, Dialysis Patient Citizens Dialysis Patients Citizen’s (DPC) mission is to improve dialysis citizens’ quality of life. As a result, we have played an important role in increasing patient access to: health insurance coverage, care coordination, medications and innovative therapies. While we work hard to improve public policies for patients, sometimes we are put on defense to protect our previous hard-fought victories. One of the most important tools for protecting patient choice and access to insurance coverage is the ability of charities to provide financial assistance in helping dialysis patients purchase insurance coverage. [...]

2018 Midterm Election Wrap-Up

2024-03-28T20:59:30-04:00February 22nd, 2019|Categories: The Kidney Citizen, Uncategorized|

By Megan Hashbarger, Director of Congressional and State Relations, Dialysis Patient Citizens This past November, America held its 2018 midterm elections. We call it a midterm election because it is held between the four-year cycle of Presidential elections and is often seen as a reflection of the country’s temperament towards the President’s agenda. This cycle saw big wins for Democrats but also some solid victories for Republicans. While Democrats picked up over 40 seats and retook the majority in the House, Republicans held on to and increased their majority in the Senate. The only thing clear now is that for at [...]

Remembering Bob Lee

2024-03-28T20:59:46-04:00November 29th, 2018|Categories: eNews, Uncategorized|

Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) Education Center mourns the sudden passing of Board Member Robert “Bob” Lee, 54. Lee was a dedicated activist from Oregon who played a critical role in educating policy makers about the importance of protecting patient choice and access to care. Specifically, his continuous outreach to Senator Wyden helped secure passage of legislation to open Medicare Advantage to dialysis patients. Lee traveled to Washington, DC multiple times to meet with Members of Congress. He also travelled to Salem to testify at hearings before the state insurance commissioner. His involvement with DPC started when he became a Patient Ambassador [...]

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