Blog post
AKF presents posters on 'Step Forward: Living Well with Stage 3 Kidney Disease' course and patient and provider experiences with starting dialysis
AKF presented two posters at the National Kidney Foundation's Spring Clinical Meetings
The American Kidney Fund (AKF) presented two posters at the National Kidney Foundation's Spring Clinical Meetings held on May 7-10 in New Orleans. These posters contain abstracts that highlight AKF initiatives. Here are summaries of the posters:
American Kidney Fund's interactive, mobile-friendly course improves kidney disease knowledge
Kidney disease cannot be reversed, but there are important steps people living with Stage 3 chronic kidney disease (CKD) can take to manage their condition and slow down disease progression. Unfortunately, many patients aren't aware of what steps they can take. To raise awareness, AKF created Step Forward: Living Well with Stage 3 Kidney Disease, an interactive and mobile-friendly course where participants can learn about kidney disease topics at their own pace through interactive modules.
AKF had the following objectives in mind when launching Step Forward:
- Identify the need for patient-centered online learning to support knowledge of CKD
- Empower patients with Stage 3 CKD to take steps to manage their disease and slow its progression
- Evaluate the impact of an interactive, online course like Step Forward on increasing knowledge of CKD
Throughout the course, AKF administers knowledge checks, and upon completion, asks participants to fill out a follow-up survey to assess if the Step Forward course is helping expand patient knowledge and awareness of CKD.
Post-evaluation results have been promising, revealing that 77% of users felt that the course helped them better understand kidney disease, which will improve their ability to manage their kidney disease and slow down the damage it causes. Survey results also show that Step Forward is reaching its intended audience, with 87% of users indicating that they are in Stage 3 kidney disease. Considering the success of Step Forward, continued efforts should be made to provide interactive, online learning for people in all stages of CKD to help increase knowledge of CKD.
Starting dialysis: A focus group study on patient and provider experiences
With over 557,000 Americans on dialysis, resources are needed that accurately reflect the needs and experiences of these individuals. To better understand what it's like for patients when they start dialysis — as well as what resources would be most helpful to them — AKF led two focus groups in October 2025 with patients and health care professionals (HCPs).
A total of nine participants took part in these focus groups, including five patients and four HCPs. Patients were chosen based on how long they have been on dialysis, while HCPs were selected based on their current role in dialysis centers.
In the focus groups, AKF asked for feedback from participants about an existing resource — a checklist of questions to ask dialysis care providers, which was developed in 2016.
In addition, the following topics were covered at the focus groups:
- Experiences starting dialysis
- Infection control
- Patient priorities for developing future resources
Each participant's responses were recorded and analyzed. The gathering of these responses showed a noticeable difference in the words used by patients and HCPs to describe the existing AKF checklist. While patients described it as "very useful," HCPs said it was "overwhelming" and "had too many words." These differences show that there is a gap between what HCPs think patients need and what patients actually need. Work must be done to bridge this gap and build an effective patient-centered education resource.
Findings from the focus groups also illustrate that what patients need and the perception of these needs have changed since the checklist was originally developed in 2016. As a result, it is important for periodic reviews to be conducted on resources for patients to ensure that they remain relevant for both patients and HCPs. These reviews should also consider the changes that have occurred over the last decade in the types of information patients are seeking and the ways they are accessing that information.
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