How to help dialysis patients go home

Whether you would like to launch or enhance a home dialysis program, the primary concern for patients with End-Stage Renal Disease is to treat the disease effectively while treating the individuals compassionately. Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) can offer your patients clinical advantages, as well as greater satisfaction with their treatment.

Clinical advantages include early survival advantages,¹ better preservation of residual kidney function,^2–4 a lower rate of hospitalizations for serious infections¹ and preservation of vascular access sites. Patient satisfaction is reflected in an improvement of outcomes when dialysis patients are engaged in choosing their modality,⁵ as well as in the enhanced perceived quality of care when patients have flexibility that recognizes their unique lifestyle.⁶

How to identify, talk to and support home dialysis candidates

Communicating information about PD to your patients can be challenging. The resources here will help you:

• Identify potential PD candidates
• Talk to patients about switching to PD or starting dialysis on PD
• Support patients who choose to go home

Read more about why your dialysis patients should have the option of Peritoneal Dialysis.

Care Team Map

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The idea of dialyzing at home can seem alien and intimidating to patients. Therefore, it is important to reinforce their network of support. We have created this Care Team Map to show patients their web of support that they can rely on at home. The map can be personalized for each patient with names and phone numbers of all care team members. Download a copy of the Care Team Map.

¹ USRDS 2009 Annual Data Report: Atlas of End-Stage Renal Disease in the United States, Vol. 2, 2009; 174-417, U.S. Renal Data System.
² Moist L, Port F, Orzol S, et al. Predictors of Loss of Residual Renal Function among New Dialysis Patients. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2000;11:556-564.
3 Jansen M, Hart A, Korevaar J, et al. Predictors of the rate of decline of residual renal function in incident dialysis patients. Kidney Int. 2002;62:1046-1053.
⁴ Misra M, Vonesh E, Van Stone J, et al. Effect of cause and time of dropout on the residual GFR: A comparative analysis of the decline of GFR in dialysis. Kidney Int. 2001;59:754-763.
⁵ Stack A, Martin D. Association of patient autonomy with increased transplantation and survival among new dialysis patients in the United States. Am J Kidney Dis. 2005;45: 730-742.
⁶ Rubin H, Fink N, Plantinga L, et al. Patient ratings of Dialysis Care With Peritoneal Dialysis vs Hemodialysis. JAMA 2004;291: 697-703.