"You Have the Power to Prevent Kidney Disease" Video Aims to Prevent Renal Failure

Format: Video
Institute: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

The NKDEP's You Have the Power to Prevent Kidney Disease educational video is a four-minute documentary, designed as a "continuous feed" for dialysis centers, meetings of voluntary and professional organizations, and health fairs in four pilot cities: Baltimore, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Jackson, Mississippi.

The storyline features Shirleen, a woman with diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease, and her son, Deon. The video aims to (1) increase understanding of risk factors for kidney disease, (2) raise awareness of the importance of being tested for kidney disease among the African American community, (3) encourage people at risk for kidney disease to talk with their health care providers about getting tested, and (4) motivate people with kidney failure to talk to their family members about the importance of being tested.

The NIDDK created NKDEP to prevent people at high risk for kidney disease or in the early stages of the disease from progressing to kidney failure. Treatment with medication can slow or stop loss of kidney function.

The NKDEP will initially target primary care providers and people at highest risk for kidney disease—particularly African Americans with diabetes, hypertension, and/or family history of kidney failure in the four pilot cities.

Next Steps
The video will be disseminated by NKDEP's pilot sites and shown primarily in dialysis units, not in the mass media.

Information about the NKDEP is available on-line at
www.nkdep.nih.gov.