HOME HAEMODIALYSIS

"Dear Reader,

one of the educational objectives during 2017 of the European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association (EDTNA/ERCA) is focused on Home Haemodialysis (HHD). The benefits of this modality of renal replacement therapy are clearly demonstrated in the literature and the ability to perform Frequent Home Haemodialysis (FHHD) is clearly a key contributing factor to positive outcomes. The aim of this Guide is to reach all renal healthcare professionals caring for Chronic Kidney Disease patients, offering them the chance to learn from experts about caring for patients who choose HHD treatment, focusing on FHHD.

This Book and the Application have been brought together thanks to the involvement of several volunteers’ who have expertise in this treatment modality. All of them deserve to be acknowledged. The Authors of every chapter have put a lot of time and expertise in the development of their individual sections. We, together with our Reviewers, monitored, assessed and reviewed these chapters, consolidating the content and streamlining formatting. We would also like to thank the EDTNA/ERCA Marketing Director Mrs Anki Davidson and her team for their expertise and design for both the book and the application development.

We are grateful to NxStage Medical who have supported the development of these tools with a cooperation agreement and who also have checked for accurate medical content.

On behalf of the Executive Committee please accept our deepest appreciation. This Project has been achieved thanks to All of You and we are sure that those reading this publication will recognise your commitment to HHD patients and their quality of life."

Debbie Fortnum

"Dear Reader,

I joined the dialysis industry in the early 1980’s when the pathway to improved care at lower cost was best achieved in freestanding dialysis centers. This has been the logical path to improvements for many decades now. Improving the therapy with better buffers, more physiologic membranes, and machine technology has taken us a long way. Given the state of available technology, we were better served to improve labor and overhead efficiency leading to inflexible therapy frequency and duration. The industry has done a spectacular job of responding to these demands with amazing cost efficiency and impressive clinical improvements.

The exciting opportunity for the future is the availability of technology and tools to bring a new dimension in how we can deliver care. With breakthroughs in technology we now have the ability to turn our approach on it’s head. We can allow the therapy to move into the patient’s home and remove schedule limitations. It’s exciting to think how we can put the patient’s well being as the primary objective of care. We can explore frequency and duration of therapy that achieves the best individual outcomes. I believe we will all look back in a number of years and say this was the beginning of the trend to individualized patient care and the addition of the virtual clinic. We now need to support the sharing of best practices and clinical experience to expand this option to more patients and their families.

EDTNA/ERCA has been a leader in supporting patients and their families for over 46 years. Their mission; “Achieving the best standards of education, best practise and care and research for our members supporting their patients and families around the world.” make them the perfect partner in this effort. With their leadership and reach of 1400 members in more than 70 countries, this Guide can help translate the knowledge held by early adopters into broader practice. I want to thank all of the dedicated people who have taken their precious time to contribute to this project. We at NxStage are honored to be an active part of this exciting revolution in care."

Jeff Burbank