A new suite of education resources for people with kidney disease
Swansea Bay University Health Board
People with kidney disease often have many health problems, take a complicated combination of medicines and require many different treatments. A new suite of bilingual education resources for people with kidney disease has been developed by Swansea Bay UHB, including animations, videos, virtual tours, an augmented reality (AR) app and patient leaflets.
The education resources were developed with the aim to empower people with kidney disease and improve health literacy across different areas of kidney disease, including medication, dialysis and the complications of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). A core delivery team was established, made up of kidney healthcare professionals and multimedia developers based in Morriston Hospital, Swansea. Talented multimedia developers joined the renal team and were supported by the Medical Illustration department. The content was translated into Welsh by the Swansea Bay UHB Welsh Translation department.
Service users and health professionals across Wales were integral to the development of the resources, both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Contributors have included people with chronic kidney disease, dialysis patients, kidney transplant recipients, family members and young adults with kidney disease across Wales. Patients and family members also kindly offered their time to tell their stories on camera and film their homes for 360° virtual tours.
The developed resources include ‘Meet the Expert’ videos; several animations, including “Your Kidneys and what they do” and “What is dialysis?”; Welsh and English language patient leaflets that correspond to the digital content; “Home haemodialysis: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)” videos; and a Home dialysis e-learning platform. Completed resources will soon be available on a public NHS Wales website. It is envisaged that these learning resources will support national strategic aims of early identification and management of CKD, and for 30% of dialysis patients to dialyse at home.
Owain Brooks
owain.brooks@wales.nhs.uk