Living Well - With CKD

What is LivingWell - With CKD?

LivingWell - With CKD is a Northwest Kidney Centers program with a mission to prevent chronic kidney disease (CKD) and empower those with CKD to achieve better survival and better quality of life.  To this end, we

1.      Conduct health screening for at-risk groups,

2.      Educate people with CKD,

3.      Collaborate and share information with health-care providers and community organizations,

4.      Raise awareness about CKD and

5.      Advocate for policies that support the LivingWell - Smart choices for healthy living mission.  

What is LivingWell - With CKD doing in each of these areas?

Screening

We provide free health screenings for kidney disease risk factors at two annual community events sponsored by the Northwest Kidney Centers – the Family Health & Kidney Expo and the Kidney Health Fest for African American Families.  The screenings include a urine test for protein, blood tests for blood sugar and cholesterol, a blood pressure check, and a body mass index measurement.  At the end of the screenings, all participants receive free health counseling with a nephrologists (kidney doctor).

Education

Patient education is a key area of activity for the LivingWell - Smart choices for healthy living program.  We offer two free classes to motivate and engage patients in managing their own care and in making informed decisions about their care.  The Healthy Eating class is an interactive session taught by a dietitian designed to help people, who are at stages 2 to 4 of kidney disease, preserve kidney function through better nutrition.  Choices is a class that covers treatment options as well as lifestyle and coping issues for people facing kidney failure.  A third class that addresses the kidney-heart health link is being developed and will be introduced soon.  Our classes are offered several times a month at various Northwest Kidne Centers locations.

Collaboration and information sharing

We work with nephrologists’ offices to identify and recruit patients for our classes.  We provide consultation to community groups on conducting screening.  The CKD Medical Advisor meets with numerous medical and community organizations to promote the message that early identification and treatment of CKD saves lives, and to discuss how this can be accomplished.  We continue to seek opportunities for partnerships.

Raising awareness

CKD is largely unrecognized as a critical and enormous health issue by health-care providers and the public.  Therefore, we work to educate our own health-care staff about CKD on an ongoing basis.  We use opportunities, such as World Kidney Day to do so.  We also raise awareness by having educational booths at community events, by reaching out to primary care doctors, and by working with governmental agencies and community groups. 

Advocacy

One of the roles of our CKD Medical Advisor is to continue to work with state and local health- care leaders on policies that affect CKD patients and their survival.  This effort has led to the inclusion of diabetes and depression medication coverage in the state Kidney Disease Program and the promotion of eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) reporting by Washington State laboratories as a means to early detection of CKD.  We are working toward having CKD placed among the top five chronic health condition identified by the state of Washington.   

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