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New Materials for Dialysis Patients
We are pleased to announce that our new NKDEP "Help Your Family Prevent Kidney Failure" materials are available in the four pilot
sites. These items encourage ESRD patients to talk to their family members about their risk for kidney disease and the importance of getting tested. The materials include a brochure, a button, a poster and a video.
The brochure emphasizes that kidney disease runs in families and that early detection of kidney disease is important. The brochure features key messages about kidney disease on a detachable postcard that patients mail to their family members.
The button is designed to be worn by nurses, social workers, technicians, and other dialysis center staff to stimulate questions from patients. The button comes with a quick reference card with a few key messages about kidney disease.
The poster is intended for waiting rooms or treatment areas and encourages patients to talk to their family members about getting tested for kidney disease.
The existing You Have The Power To Prevent Kidney Disease: A Health Education Video complements the new materials and will also be sent to dialysis clinics.
These materials have been pretested with dialysis patients and have been reviewed by the NKDEP's Patient-At-Risk and Professional Working Groups. The materials have been distributed to medical directors, administrators, nurse managers, and lead social workers at 143 dialysis centers in the 4 pilot sites. We will be assessing the impact of these materials in Baltimore with a brief patient survey in centers that have and have not received the materials. The survey will probe exposure to campaign materials, knowledge of kidney disease risk factors, communication with family members about kidney disease, and recommendations by patient that family members be tested for kidney disease. The materials will become available nationally in June 2004.
In the Pilot Sites
We will distribute our new radio Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to radio stations in our four pilot sites the first week of February. The 30-second and 60-second PSAs emphasize the risk factors of kidney disease and the importance of testing. In addition to the pre-recorded PSAs, we will also be disseminating our live-read scripts, which highlight key messages about kidney disease.
NKDEP Working Groups
The Laboratory Working Group has developed two new fact sheets to encourage laboratories to report GFR estimates as soon as possible in adults with GFRs less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2. Rationale for Use and Reporting of Estimated GFR provides 7 key reasons for using prediction equations to estimate GFR. Suggestions for Laboratories lists recommendations and provides sample reports. A special thanks to the American Society of Nephrology, who sent these documents to their members and encouraged them to contact their local laboratories.
We are pleased to announce that in addition to the GFR calculators for adults and children that are on the NKDEP website, a GFR calculator for PDAs is now available.
A new working group, called the Quality Indicators Working Group, has been established. Partnering with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), this group is piloting a project to develop quality indicators for CKD among Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for cardiovascular disease. CMS will use the lessons learned from this pilot to formulate a potential 8 th statement of work requirement for their Quality Improvement Organizations.
**New** website Additions
Please visit www.nkdep.nih.gov to view the following features under "What's New?"
- The GFR calculator for adults (now downloadable for PDAs)
- New dialysis materials
- Radio PSAs
- Suggestions for Laboratories and Rationale for Use and Reporting of Estimated GFR
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