News & Events
Discover new information and educational offerings that we provide. Explore our newsletters, blogs and upcoming webinars/conference calls.
Contents:
Living Well During COVID-19: How to Cope and Manage Your Emotions
During this webinar, Dr. Christofferson will offer advice on how to deal with feelings of fear, isolation, anxiety and stress during the coronavirus outbreak.
Dialysis Patients Should Continue to Prioritize Their Health
As officials across the country make decisions on how to safely reopen cities amid a global pandemic, people with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) must remain vigilant about taking precautions to lower their risk for COVID-19 infection. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations increased significantly among ESRD patients from May 16 to June 20, as reported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The number of kidney disease patients who were diagnosed reached 3,818 per 100,000 people, while hospitalizations were reported at 1,911 per 100,000 people. These rates are more than double that of the general population during that same time frame, demonstrating how vulnerable kidney patients may be as well as the need for continued vigilance. [...]
Guide for Submitting Emergency Grants
Emergency grants can help cover costs for transportation, medication, rent and food when someone is sick. This one-page guide will help you better understand the submission process with a summary of searching, preparing, applying and tracking grants. Included is a list of documents you may be asked to submit with your grant request. Reach out to your social worker if you need help. Check out the guide.
Dialysis Access: What Every Patient Should Know
In this presentation you will learn about: 1) the different types of access for dialysis, 2) how to examine and monitor your access and 3) why it is important to avoid catheters.
12 Tips to Cope with Chronic Disease
By Rachel Fintzy Woods, MA, MFT So many aspects of life are beyond our control. When the challenges of managing an illness such as chronic kidney disease are added to our plate, we can feel overwhelmed. Emotions such as anger, confusion, fear and sadness are common and natural, especially at the outset of our journey with illness. It can seem as if our world has been turned upside down. Yet we do have some say in how we deal with the cards we’ve been dealt, including our medical condition and life itself. We alone are responsible for our actions and our attitudes—the word “responsibility” refers to our ability to respond, after all. We can expand [...]
Public Health Service Guidelines on Organ Donation for HIV, HBV, HCV and Transplant Recipient Monitoring
The U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) recently released the PHS Guideline for Solid Organ Donor Assessment for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infection and Transplant Recipient Monitoring. This document updates existing PHS guidance pertaining to solid organ donors and recipients and testing for HIV, HBV, and HCV in addition to informed consent and appropriately communicating the risk of disease transmission to transplant candidates. The revised guideline reflects substantial advances in testing technology and treatment that improve patient safety. Key things for you to know: Risk of infection due to transplant is very low. Advances in highly accurate testing have made it easier for healthcare providers to quickly [...]
Understanding Chronic Pain and Depression
How Chronic Pain Can Impact Your Mental Health When You Have Kidney Disease By Hannah Calkins Chronic pain and depression are closely linked and because as many as 60 percent of hemodialysis patients report moderate to severe chronic pain, it’s likely that many of them have experienced depression—or are at risk for it. But it may not look or feel the way you expect, according to psychologist Robert Kerns, PhD. “Depression among people with chronic pain may not be experienced as profound sadness,” says Kerns, a professor of psychiatry, neurology and psychology at Yale University. “Other symptoms may be more likely to be present, including loss of interest or engagement in activities you normally enjoy, [...]
Care Coordination Fixes One of the Biggest Flaws in the American Health Care System
By Gloria Rohrer, DPC Patient Ambassador As a dialysis patient, it has become clear to me that one of the biggest flaws in the American health care system is the disjointed way care is often provided to patients. If patients have chronic conditions alongside other health complications, it can be exceedingly difficult to navigate the different doctors and hospitals we need in order to receive proper care. When seeing so many different doctors at various clinics and hospitals, patients like me can suffer adverse effects if all our treatments are not designed to address our full medical history, rather than a single disease. This can be because of a lack of communication between our care [...]
Identifying Sepsis Risk and Symptoms
By Marijke Vroomen Durning, RN People who live with kidney disease are more susceptible to contracting infections than the general public. A weakened immune system, frequent hospital or clinical visits/stays, and possible points of entry for infection (catheters, ports, etc.) all contribute to this increased risk. Unfortunately, some of these infections can lead to sepsis, which can be life altering, even fatal for thousands of people. Sepsis is your body’s inflammatory response to an infection. It can be any type of infection—viral, as with influenza; bacterial, as with a urinary tract infection (UTI); even fungal or parasitic. No one knows why two people may get the same infection, but one may develop sepsis while the [...]
Is a Transplant Right for Me?
During this webinar You will learn about 1) The risks vs benefits of a transplant, 2) The choice of a deceased vs living donor, 3) How to find a living donor, and 4) Tips from patients’ own transplant experiences.
4 Cereales integrales para incorporar en tu alimentación
Por María Eugenia Rodríguez León, MS, RD, CSR, LND, Nutricionista Dietista Licenciada https://menutritionpr.com Una de las recomendaciones para llevar una alimentación saludable es que la mitad de los cereales y farináceos que comemos sean integrales. Se ha demostrado que los cereales y farináceos integrales ayudan en la prevención de algunas enfermedades (ej. diabetes, cáncer, alta presión y enfermedades cardiovasculares).1 Un grano integral tiene las tres partes originales de la semilla: salvado, germen y endospermo.2 Salvado: es la parte comestible del exterior de la semilla. Contiene antioxidantes, vitaminas del complejo B y fibra. Germen: es el embrión de la semilla. Es la parte que tiene el potencial de convertirse en una planta nueva. Contiene vitaminas [...]
4 Whole Grains to Add to Your Diet
By María Eugenia Rodríguez León, MS, RD, CSR, LND, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist https://menutritionpr.com One of the recommendations given for following a healthy diet is choosing half of your daily grains as whole grains. Whole grains can help in preventing some diseases (e.g., diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure and heart disease).1 A whole grain has the three original parts of the seed: bran, germ and endosperm.2 Bran is the edible part surrounding the seed. It contains antioxidants, B vitamins and fiber. Germ is the seed embryo. It is the part that has the potential to become a new plant. It contains B vitamins, protein, minerals and healthy fats. Endosperm is the germ's food. It is [...]
Spoon-Saving Strategies
By Sara Naveed Raise your hand if getting out of bed feels like an accomplishment to you, if you have ever felt the need to nap after taking a shower or if being tired feels like it's a part of your personality now! How about constantly finding yourself in a push/crash cycle—pushing way past your limit one day and then paying the price for it in the form of heightened symptoms and having to rest several days in order to recover? Don't worry—you're not the only one! We currently live in an era where we are constantly fed the narrative that our self-worth is based on our productivity. So it's only natural to want to [...]
Managing Chronic Pain in Dialysis Patients
By Amanda Nelli, MD and Padma Gulur, MD Pain is a complex symptom and a common concern for all patients with a chronic illness. In particular, end-stage renal disease (ESRD) poses unique challenges. It has been found that 37-50 percent of patients with ESRD on hemodialysis experience chronic pain, and more than 80 percent of these patients experience moderate to severe pain.1 Pain in dialysis patients often goes undertreated, which may be because it is often caused by multiple problems. The pain experienced in dialysis patients is often a combination of physical, social and psychological influences.2 There are multiple medical causes of pain in the dialysis population, including complications related to diabetes, underlying arthritis, [...]
Are You Scared or Anxious about COVID-19?
Updated September 10, 2020 We are living in a time of uncertainty with the COVID-19 pandemic, which can lead to stress, fear, depression, and anxiety. We may feel overwhelmed at times and bored at other times. We may be at a loss for how to cope with social distancing, not seeing friends and family, and the possibility of getting sick. If you are a dialysis patient, receiving treatment either in-center or at home, your facility social worker is a great resource for you. Or, if you are a transplant patient, you can talk to your transplant social worker for support. You have people who can help you through this challenging time, either at your [...]
Bone Mineral Disorder: Calcium, Vitamin D and Phosphorus
During this webinar, you will learn about: 1) The relationship between kidney disease and your bones, 2) Bone Mineral Disease and 3) How diet impacts renal bone mineral disorder.
Advancing Care Coordination for Dialysis Patients: An Update
By Jackson Williams, Vice President of Public Policy, Dialysis Patient Citizens Efforts to modernize the delivery of quality care to dialysis patients reach several milestones in 2020: Medicare’s first care coordination program for kidney care, the Comprehensive ESRD Care Model, expires at the end of this year; providers have been invited to participate in a new program, the Comprehensive Kidney Care Contracting Model; end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients will, in October, for the first time have access to their choice of Medicare Advantage plans effective January 1, 2021; and a new bill is being introduced in Congress to create another integrated care option for kidney patients. Why Care Coordination? Most dialysis patients are served by [...]
Treatment of Hyperkalemia in Dialysis Patients
Hyperkalemia is a potentially life-threatening electrolyte disorder and is more often seen in people who have End Stage Kidney Disease than the general public. For people WITHOUT kidney failure, potassium, an important mineral within the body, helps regulate fluid balance, muscle contractions and nerve signals. When people eat more potassium than their body needs, the kidneys filter and excrete out any extra through the urine. However, when the kidneys do not work, potassium can build up in the blood and cause hyperkalemia/high potassium. You can learn more about foods high in potassium and hyperkalemia in Issue 10 of our patient newsletter, The Kidney Citizen. You also can learn more about the basics of kidney disease [...]
Reflections from 45 Years on Dialysis
By Jack Reynolds, DPC Board Member I have survived on in-center hemodialysis for the last 45 years. I have also received Medicare for all those years to pay for most of my dialysis and other medical needs. I currently reside outside the village of Palmyra, Iowa. One of the first group of Patient Ambassadors to advocate in Washington, D.C. in 2005, I have visited Capitol Hill many times since. Because of the cost, time and effort it takes to keep a kidney patient healthy, I feel that it is important to be aware of issues and legislation that can impact our choices of treatment modalities, drugs or medical insurances. Diagnosis Kidney replacement therapy. Those three [...]
The Kidney Citizen Issue 11
An article in Spanish; reflections on 45 years on dialysis; care coordination; 4 whole grains to add to your diet; and more!
