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

2022-11-02T21:15:06-04:00October 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

2022-07-07T12:42:50-04:00July 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

2022-05-09T16:58:33-04:00April 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

2022-02-10T12:41:52-05:00January 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

2020-04-27T21:22:04-04:00March 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

2020-04-27T21:22:57-04:00February 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

2020-04-27T21:22:59-04:00November 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 [...]

Support the DPC Education Center on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

2020-04-27T21:23:00-04:00November 19th, 2018|Categories: eNews, News & Events, Uncategorized|

Excited about avoiding the crowds on Black Friday and Cyber Monday? When shopping online for deals, consider supporting the DPC Education Center through AmazonSmile. Amazon will donate a portion of your purchases to the DPC Education Center without added cost. The DPC Education Center is dedicated to improving kidney patients' quality of life and reducing the occurrence of ESRD through education and awareness of dialysis and kidney disease issues, improving the partnership between patients and caregivers, and developing favorable public policy solutions. Support the DPC Education Center.

November is Family Caregiver Month

2020-04-27T21:28:53-04:00November 22nd, 2016|Categories: eNews, Uncategorized|

By Kathi Niccum, EdD, Education Director of DPC Education Center Let’s celebrate our caregivers this month! Hopefully, we will tell them often how much they mean to us and how much we appreciate their help, yet November is a time to make it “extra special.” For some, their caregiver is a spouse, a daughter or son, a sibling, or a special friend. Our informal caregivers (unpaid folks who assist with activities of daily living and/or medical tasks) help with so many tasks including transportation, medication reminders, doctor visits, coordination of health care, advocacy, and they provide personal emotional support. Caregivers make [...]

DPC Education Center Joins Forces With the CDC’s Making Dialysis Safer for Patients Coalition

2022-07-12T13:46:14-04:00October 19th, 2016|Categories: eNews, News & Events, Uncategorized|Tags: |

We are proud to announce that the DPC Education Center has recently partnered with the Making Dialysis Safer for Patients Coalition to help reduce the risk of bloodstream infections among hemodialysis patients. The Coalition is a collaboration of dialysis organizations who share the common goal of promoting the use of CDC recommendations and tools to improve patient safety nationwide. Dialysis Patient Citizens has been involved with the Bloodstream Infection (BSI) Collaborative since its creation and was the first patient group to participate, attending the inaugural meeting in 2011.  The Making Dialysis Safer For Patient Coalition was created out of this initial effort and is working to [...]

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