Hot Weather Health

The Oregon Health Authority has announced a #SummerBummer collection of strategies for Preventing and Responding to common hot-weather risks, including drowning, poor air quality, mosquito-borne and tick-borne illnesses, algal blooms, fecal beach bacteria, food poisoning, and extreme heat.  Find their recommendations at https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ERD/Pages/StaySafeHealthyWithSafetyTipsFromOHAAsSummerKicksOffJune21.aspx.

CDC has a comparable program that sends out a weekly email on Five Minutes or Less for Health Weekly Tip, which also covers skin cancer, hydration, and communicable diseases.  Review their Tips or sign up at https://www.cdc.gov/family/minutes/tips/summersavvy/index.htm.

Homeland Security’s “Ready.gov” website has a thorough discussion of how to stay cool and safe in extreme heat, at https://www.ready.gov/heat, and one to help you Prepare Your Home for Wildfire Season at https://www.ready.gov/wildfires.

And of course people with ESRD have special issues with food and water in the summer:

• AAKP has a HealthLine webinar on Summer Eats: Staying Healthy, Hydrated and On Your Kidney-Friendly Diet which can be found at https://www.gotostage.com/channel/6927452477730326277/recording/c21ada4c697042f18ea3383e674c0db1/watch?source=CHANNEL.
• ESRD Network 16’s tips on Fluids Management reside at:
  • https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/nwrn.org/files/NW18/Fluids.Eng.pdf (English)
  • https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/nwrn.org/files/NW18/Liquidos.esp.pdf (Spanish)
• While they’re several years old, NKF’s advice on summer fruits and vegetables in their article on Healthy Living in Summer are still valid.  Find them at https://www.kidney.org/blog/staying-healthy/healthy-living-summer.

Diabetic Foot Care

A recent study published in the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) journal Diabetes Care (http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2019/05/28/dc19-0296) using 2000-2015 USRDS data has shown that the rates of nontraumatic lower-extremity amputation (NLEA) among adults with ESRD and diabetes fell 44% between 2000 and 2013 from 7.5 to 4.2 NLEA per 100 person-years, while NLEA among ESRD patients without diabetes declined 31% over the same period, from 1.6 to 1.1 per 100 person-years.  Both reductions were highly statistically significant.  However, both rates flat-lined after 2013.

We want to stress the importance of improving patient and staff education on diabetes self-management and preventive foot care, in order to resume the reductions in these rates.  CDC’s recommendations on diabetic foot care can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/features/diabetesfoothealth/index.html.  The ADA’s input is at http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/complications/foot-complications/foot-care.html in English and http://www.diabetes.org/es/vivir-con-diabetes/complicaciones/el-cuidado-de-los-pies.html in Spanish.

Online English/Spanish Treatment Options Tool

My Life, My Dialysis Choice is a free English/Spanish, values-based dialysis treatment matcher developed by the non-profit MEI and endorsed by AAKP and Home Dialyzors United.  You enter your lifestyle preferences, and My Life, My Dialysis Choice suggests treatment options most appropriate for you.  The tool is written at a 5th grade reading level and includes ALL types of dialysis.  Find My Life, My Dialysis Choice at https://mydialysischoice.org/.  It may load in either English or Spanish, but you can switch by clicking on the “English” or “Español” button in the upper left corner of the screen.

NW18 Patient Grievance Process

Check out the Network 18 website for some great information on the Network 18 Grievance Process:

• For Providers, see http://www.esrdnetwork18.org/providers/patient-services/, which includes English and Spanish versions of the Network 18 Grievance Poster, Grievance Brochure, a link to the National Forum of ESRD Networks’ Grievance Toolkit, and a discussion on Preventing and Reducing Involuntary Discharge.

• For Patients and Care Partners, see http://www.esrdnetwork18.org/patients/grievances/, which includes English and Spanish versions of the Network 18 Grievance Poster, Grievance Brochure, and a packet of Patient Grievance Guidelines and Forms; a discussion of patient and Network Roles and Responsibilities; and a list of California state Department of Health Services offices.

Keep in mind that no patient should ever suffer any retaliation for filing a grievance.  The Network is here to assist facilities and patients in resolving any concerns that may arise, in a collaborative and positive manner.  All facilities are required to:

• Make sure you have the ESRD Network 18 Grievance Poster prominently displayed in your lobby or another area that is accessible to patients and guests, including a Spanish copy of the Poster.
• Ensure that all patients understand how to file a grievance with you, with the Network, and with the State.

You can also print some Brochures and pass them out to patients, or have them available in your lobby.

NW16 Patient Grievance Process

The Network 16 website includes important information about the Network 16 Grievance Process:

• For Providers: https://www.nwrn.org/providers-and-professional-staff/patient-services/grievances.html includes English and Spanish versions of the Network 16 Grievance Poster, and Grievance Brochure.
  

• For Patients and Care Partners: https://www.nwrn.org/patients-a-family/voice.html includes English and Spanish versions of the Network 16 Grievance Poster, Grievance Brochure, links to the National Forum of ESRD Networks’ Grievance Toolkits, and a list of State Survey Agency contacts.

Keep in mind that no patient should ever suffer any retaliation for filing a grievance.  The Network is here to assist facilities and patients in resolving any concerns that may arise, in a collaborative and positive manner.  All facilities are required to:

• Prominently display the ESRD Network 16 Grievance Poster in your lobby or another area that is accessible to patients and guests, including a Spanish copy if appropriate for your patients.
• Ensure that all patients understand how to file a grievance with you, with the Network, and with the State.

You can also print some brochures and pass them out to patients or have them available in your lobby.

Depression Toolkit Revised

The National Forum of ESRD Networks has revised the Dialysis Patient Depression Toolkit and added a video.  Find the revised English version at http://esrdnetworks.org/resources/toolkits/patient-toolkits/new-toolkit-dialysis-patient-depression-toolkit/dialysis-patient-depression-toolkit-english and a Spanish version at http://esrdnetworks.org/resources/toolkits/patient-toolkits/new-toolkit-dialysis-patient-depression-toolkit/dialysis-patient-depression-toolkit-spanish.  A related video interview with a dialysis patient has also been recorded.  Find it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Iv6JytQt4.

9/5+ World Sepsis Day and Awareness Month

The Global Sepsis Alliance will present the free, online 2nd World Sepsis Congress September 5-6, 2018, featuring 100 speakers from 30 countries.  For more information on both the Alliance and the Congress, see https://www.worldsepsiscongress.org/.  CDC’s presentation will be September 6, 2018 at 4:30 p.m. PDT.

September 13, 2018 is World Sepsis Day, and September is Sepsis Awareness Month, the first anniversary of CDC’s Get Ahead of Sepsis program.  Find CDC’s educational materials on Sepsis at https://www.cdc.gov/sepsis/education/index.html, and their Get Ahead of Sepsis web page, in English and Spanish, at https://www.cdc.gov/sepsis/.

Find more information and tools at https://www.world-sepsis-day.org/ and https://www.sepsis.org/sepsisawarenessmonth/.