Our 2021 series of health literacy webinars continues with our next event, ‘Living well with kidney disease’, scheduled for 20 May 2021 at 19.00 CET – registration is free of charge and open to the public.
The World Kidney Day (WKD) organisers – a global joint initiative of the International Society of Nephrology and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations – have declared 2021 the year for ‘Living Well with Kidney Disease’ in an effort to increase education and awareness on the importance of patient empowerment and life participation. To that end, we are partnering with the WKD initiative and industry peers to amplify such conversations with renal patients, their families and society as a whole.
Our 2nd webinar in the 2021 series, ‘Living well with kidney disease’, we explored strategies for renal patients to manage the disease effectively and live fulfilling lives despite their condition. With almost 30 years in renal nursing, Diaverum’s Global Nursing Director Suzanne Pearce hosted the event joined by three ‘empowered’ renal patients – Bárbara da Silva Ferreira de Barros, Filipe Almeida and Oscarine B Barukh – who shared their personal stories with the public, as well as take questions in a live Q&A at the end of the session.
Suzanne Pearce, Diaverum’s Global Nursing Director, said: “Living with CKD is associated with hardships for patients, their families and carers. By empowering patients and everyone around them, we can help minimise the burden of the disease and try to enable renal patients to have a fulfilling life participation in society, be it in terms of going on holiday, exercising, dining out or continuing with their professional careers.”
CKD is a global and escalating challenge which today affects about 10% of the world’s adult population, with its prevalence increasing particularly in developing countries. It is estimated that 90% of people suffering from CKD are not aware of their condition, making health literacy key to prevention. A study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research shows that when patients have information about their condition and communicate effectively with their doctors, they are 32% less likely to be hospitalised and 14% less likely to visit the emergency room.1
Barbara da Silva Ferreira de Barros, a kidney transplant patient from Porto, Portugal, said: “I was diagnosed with kidney disease 25 years ago. I was devastated that I would never be able to make my dreams come true. But with the help of my family I got my first and then second transplant 8 years ago. Now I am a happy mother and still enjoy working as a pharmacist. I do believe that learning to live well with a chronic illness does not mean resigning yourself to it, it means learning a lot about it and about your body.”
[1]Greene JC, et al. (2019). Reduced hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and costs associated with a web-based health literacy, aligned-incentive intervention: Mixed methods study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(10): e14772.