What's New

May 19 , 2010 - The webinar presentation Incorporating Palliative Care into the Dialysis Unit by Dr. Michael Germain is now available online. You can find Dr. Germain's presentation and an audio recording of the webinar on the Palliative Care & Hospice page.

April 6, 2010- The webinar presentation Symptom Assessment and Management by Dr. Steven Weisbord is now available online. You can find Dr. Weisbord's presentation, including an audio recording, on the Physician/Clinician Education page.

February 22, 2010- The webinar presentations Relevance of Palliative Care and Hospice for Dialysis Patients by Dr. Alvin Moss and Pain Assessment and Management by Dr. Sara Davison are now available online, along with related resources. You can find Dr. Moss's presentation, including an audio recording and related resources, on the Palliative Care & Hospice webpage. Dr. Davison's complete presentation and related resources are posted on the Physician/Clinician Education page.

Click here to register for the remaining webinar presentations (PDF)

January 18, 2010 - A recent NephrOnline article "End of life care falls short for kidney disease patients" profiles Dr. Sara Davison's recent survey of CKD patients' end-of-life care preferences. The NephrOnline article is based off of Dr. Davison's January 2010 publication in CJASN, entitled "End of Life Care Preferences and Needs: Perceptions of Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease." Dr. Davison, a physician at the University of Alberta in Canada, is a Coalition member and a presenter for the webinar series on hospice and palliative care for dialysis patients.

December 29, 2009 -  The Kidney End-of-Life Coalition has expanded its Patient and Family Education webpage to include information on choosing not to start dialysis and dialysis withdrawal. This new section is intended to assist dialysis patients and their families in making informed decisions about treatment options, including the option of no dialysis. The webpage also includes information on advance directives, end-of-life and palliative care, caregiver support services and several personal stories from family members. View Press Release.

December 2, 2009 - Mid-Atlantic Renal Coalition, the West Virginia University School of Medicine and the West Virginia Center for End-of-Life Care announce CME-accredited webinar series on hospice and palliative care for dialysis patients.

October 12, 2009 - The American Society of Nephrology's (ASN) website is currently featuring a podcast interview with Kidney End-of-Life Coalition Chairman Dr. Alvin H. Moss and Dr. Mark Swindler of Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The podcast is entitled Helping Helping Patients in Pain: An ASN Podcast on Palliative Care (35.7MB, click link to download) and focuses on the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to palliative care. The podcast also provides useful resources on palliative care for nephrologists and other physicians.

September 30, 2009 - The Mid-Atlantic Renal Coalition and the Kidney End-of-Life Coalition Develop Pain Management Brochure for Renal Caregivers

September 18, 2009 - Kidney End-of-Life Coalition Chair Nominated for Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award