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Psychosocial Factors Affecting Children and Families Living with Chronic Illness

2024-03-28T20:59:12-04:00May 6th, 2019|Categories: eNews, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Pediatric Kidney Disease, Support, Webinar|

During this webinar, Amy Walters, PhD, Clinical Psychologist will discuss: 1) the psychological and emotional side effects of chronic illness on children and families, 2) how illness impacts different stages of childhood development, 3) common concerns reported by parents and children and 4) ways to support children and their families in coping with chronic illness. About the Presenter Amy Walters, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and the Director of Behavioral Health Services for St. Luke’s Humphreys Diabetes Center in Boise, Idaho. Dr. Walters works with patients to overcome barriers to behavioral change, learn to cope with chronic illness, and address issues [...]

Knowledge is Key for CKD and ESRD Patients

2024-03-28T20:59:12-04:00May 2nd, 2019|Categories: Employment, eNews, Nutrition, Pediatric Kidney Disease, Treatment, Webinar, What Causes Kidney Disease|

Print out the flier At the Dialysis Patient Citizens Education Center we believe it is extremely important to educate kidney patients at all stages of kidney disease as well as their family members. We offer free, monthly webinars and conference calls on an assortment of topics related to kidney care. We work hard to help fill in the gaps for people living with kidney disease who need to learn more about their disease, treatments and quality of life to enable them to be key members of their health care team. Included is a list of educational topics for the [...]

Living with Kidney Disease: Tips for Teens on How to Cope

2024-03-28T20:59:14-04:00April 22nd, 2019|Categories: eNews, Mental Health, Pediatric Kidney Disease|

By Elizabeth Lewan, Communications & Grassroots Program Coordinator at the American Psychological Association Your kidneys have many functions in the body and play an important role in your overall health and wellness. They help the body eliminate harmful toxins by filtering waste and extra fluid from your blood, control blood pressure and keep your bones healthy. Although you have been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, you can still live a meaningful and healthy life. You may be feeling scared or unsure about your health or the changes happening to your body. It may seem like you’re on an emotional roller coaster, [...]

My Personal Experience with a Rare Condition

2024-03-28T20:59:17-04:00March 29th, 2019|Categories: Diagnosis of Kidney Disease, In-Center Hemodialysis, Lifestyle, Physical Health, The Kidney Citizen|Tags: |

By Mark Scirocco, Patient Ambassador I have been on in-center hemodialysis for three years. It was a rough start, as I went through 11 chest catheters in a little over a year. Two of them just fell out while I was sitting at home; the others got clogged. The last one almost killed me, stopping fluid in my upper body and head. My fistula was barely ready when they took that one out and placed a stent in my chest to allow fluid past my upper body. Three months after starting my fistula, I needed a fistulogram to open it up. [...]

Free Monthly Webinars/Conference Calls

2024-03-28T20:59:20-04:00March 21st, 2019|Categories: About DPC Ed Center, Costs for Treatment, Diagnosis of Kidney Disease, Early Intervention, Employment, Home Hemodialysis, Humor and Laughter, Immunizations, In-Center Hemodialysis, Kidney Transplant, Lifestyle, Medication, Mental Health, Music, Nutrition, Pediatric Kidney Disease, Peritoneal Dialysis, Physical Health, Sex and Intimacy, Stages of Kidney Disease, Stress Management, Support, Symptoms, The Kidney Citizen, Webinar, What Causes Kidney Disease|

The DPC Education Center invites people living with chronic kidney disease (CKD), end-stage renal disease (ESRD), their families and professional staff to join us for our monthly webinars. You can also join by phone or view the recordings online at a later time. The webinars are planned for the fourth Thursday of the month at 2 p.m. Eastern time zone, except for November and December when they will be held during the third week of the month. You can download monthly webinar fliers to share with others and/or register for webinars at www.dpcedcenter.org/news-events/education-webinars. Join by phone by calling 1-877- 399-5186 and [...]

Advance Care Planning

2024-03-28T20:59:22-04:00March 15th, 2019|Categories: Diagnosis of Kidney Disease, Lifestyle, The Kidney Citizen|Tags: |

By David Mahoney, MD As a member of Dialysis Patient Citizens, you have chosen to become involved, speak up for what is important to you and take charge of the management of your health. Dialysis modality, diet, medications, exercise, management of your other health-related issues, all require your informed decision-making and action. But despite this high level of involvement in their health care, few dialysis patients have addressed the issue of advance care planning. “I don’t want to talk about that now.” “That’s for sick people, and I am doing well.” “That really scares me.” “I am NOT ready to talk [...]

Insights from the Dialysis Patient Citizens 2018 Patient Survey: Patients’ Priorities for Quality Measures and New Innovations in ESRD Care

2024-03-28T20:59:23-04:00March 11th, 2019|Categories: Diagnosis of Kidney Disease, In-Center Hemodialysis, The Kidney Citizen|

By Jackson Williams, Director of Regulatory Affairs and General Counsel, Dialysis Patient Citizens Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) thanks everyone who completed its 2018 Patient Survey. It is another way to make your voices heard. We use our patient survey to get your input on current issues and to convey your opinions to policymakers in Washington, DC. This year, our survey included questions on two recent developments in Washington: Medicare’s “Meaningful Measures” Initiative: In early 2018, Medicare officials announced plans to reduce the number of quality measures it uses to hold health care providers accountable. This meant that for dialysis care, the [...]

New Course – Sepsis and Kidney Disease

2024-03-28T20:59:24-04:00March 7th, 2019|Categories: Online Courses, What Causes Kidney Disease|Tags: |

Print out the flier The DPC Education Center has a new, easy way to help you learn! We are kicking off National Kidney Month with a brand-new course titled, "Sepsis and Kidney Disease." With this free, online mini course you will learn about sepsis, including its causes and symptoms, and how to get treatment for this potentially devastating and life-threatening condition. Explore topics by watching videos, reading articles and participating in online activities. Go at your own pace as you learn what sepsis is and what actions to take. Be an advocate for your health, and get started [...]

Improvements in Dialysis Care Are Outpacing Other Serious Chronic Disease Conditions – Including Cancer and Heart Failure

2024-03-28T20:59:25-04:00March 4th, 2019|Categories: Costs for Treatment, Diagnosis of Kidney Disease, eNews|

Improvements in dialysis care are outpacing outcomes for other chronic disease conditions, improvements that allow patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) to live longer lives – and yielding substantial savings to Medicare – according to a new fact sheet created from the health care consulting firm Discern Health, which analyzed United States Renal Data System (USRDS) data. An analysis of the USRDS data set by Discern Health reveals that, although ESRD patients are among the most complex and costly Medicare beneficiaries to treat, improvements in dialysis care have led to improvements that translate into larger gains in patient survival than other [...]

Growing Up On Dialysis

2024-03-28T20:59:28-04:00February 25th, 2019|Categories: Lifestyle, Pediatric Kidney Disease, The Kidney Citizen|Tags: |

By Julie Crandall, CBCS, CMAA, Patient Ambassador, DPC Education Center Board Member How was it to grow up with end-stage renal disease (ESRD)? Since I didn’t know any other way; for me, it was normal. I can tell you that in my case, my family was the most important people that helped me navigate childhood. It helped that they didn’t treat me like the ‘sick kid’ of the family; I was a daughter and a little sister. I didn’t know what to focus on for this article. It was difficult to narrow down my childhood with ESRD and dialysis to write [...]

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