CKD Patient Education | Resources & Tools

Patient education leads to improved outcomes. In fact, early chronic kidney disease (CKD) patient education is associated with a 47 percent reduction in mortality in the first 120 days on dialysis.¹ That’s why Fresenius Medical Care is devoted to creating educational resources through Fresenius Kidney Care aimed at helping your patients understand their disease, treatment options, diet, and more so they can thrive. By directing your patients to our collection of resources for living well with kidney disease, or using these resources to support your conversations, you can have peace of mind that your patients are learning about CKD.

Tools Your Patients Will Use

The CKD patient population is broad, with varied backgrounds and access to care. Our experts have created multiple CKD patient education tools for different modes of learning, including synchronous and asynchronous classes, handouts covering key information about medication management, dietary support, community resources, and more. These assets are geared toward empowering patients with the information they need to maintain their health.

Introducing CKD with Our Kidney Disease Education Class

Whether your patient has crashed into dialysis or is newly diagnosed with CKD, our Kidney Disease Education Class can help them understand their diagnosis and treatment options. The class can be taken online at the patient’s pace or can be led by our expert educators, Kidney Care Advocates, either virtually, on the phone, or in person. The class covers these five key topics:

1. Symptoms and stages of CKD

2. Eating well with kidney disease

3. Coping and getting support

4. Treatment options, including home dialysis and transplant

5. General resources

Register for an in-person or virtual Kidney Disease Education Class

Fresenius Kidney Care’s community focus

We host a robust Kidney Care Community with over 4,000 members who are a mix of people on dialysis, those with early or late-stage CKD, healthcare professionals, and family members or caretakers for people with CKD. This platform is open to anyone, not only Fresenius Kidney Care patients, and allows people to ask questions, share their stories, read articles on relevant topics, and feel connected to others impacted by CKD. It’s particularly useful for home dialysis patients looking to meet others in the same situation, as patients who are not center-based may need help finding others undergoing similar treatment plans.

Join the Kidney Care Community through Fresenius Kidney Care

Resources readily available

The Fresenius Kidney Care patient education resource center is a powerful set of tools and resources that are grouped into categories to make it easy for anyone to find exactly what they’re looking for. Some of the categories include:

• Treatment options, including home dialysis and transplant
• Selecting and caring for their access type
• Nutrition
• Preventing infection
• Travel services

This educational hub is a one-stop shop for patients looking to understand their disease, treatment, medication, lifestyle, and more, which helps your patients feel confident and supported. It’s also a great spot for providers to download easy reference guides to share with patients during regular visits.

Explore Fresenius Kidney Care’s resource hub

An abundance of kidney-friendly recipes

Our kidney-friendly recipe library has hundreds of dietitian-approved recipes for people at any stage of CKD. Patients can filter recipes by meal type, cuisine, dietary restrictions, allergens, and ingredients. Your patients will find kidney-friendly ways to make the foods they love, such as lasagna, chicken pot pie, tacos, hamburgers, salads, and desserts. The easy functionality of our recipe library — along with recognizable favorites — makes it simple for your patients to follow a diet for their current stage of CKD and treatment modality. For patients less comfortable searching an online directory of recipes, we also have a library of cookbooks that can be easily downloaded. Your patients can review our recipes and cookbooks from their desktop or mobile devices.

Download Fresenius Kidney Care’s free kidney-friendly cookbooks and enjoy our recipes

Supporting the Whole Patient

In addition to our library of valuable CKD education tools, we employ compassionate professionals who can partner with physicians to provide key support to dialysis patients. Social workers, dietitians, Kidney Care Advocates, home dialysis nurses, and even insurance coordinators all work together to ensure a patient’s emotional, personal, and physical needs are met. Each patient has individual needs and learning styles that our professionals are trained to work with because we understand that we need to meet every patient where they are.

A Trusted Partner for CKD Patient Education

Fresenius Kidney Care is a trusted ally, focusing on supporting people with kidney disease throughout their entire journey. The tools available through Fresenius Kidney Care can supplement and support providers to meet patients where they are and make sure each patient is equipped with the tools they need to thrive.

Find more information on the specific tools available to your patients at FreseniusKidneyCare.com/MD

 

Citations

1. Reviriego-Mendoza M, Jiao Y, Larkin J, et al. Options Education Before Initiation of Dialysis is Associated with Improved Hospitalization and Mortality Rates. Abstract presented at: American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week 2017; New Orleans, LA.