Support Resources

Disease Management Program

The National Kidney Foundation and the Renal Physicians Association have established evidence-based guidelines for the management and care of kidney disease.

At UVA, we want to help our patients meet these guidelines — such as controlling weight, cholesterol and blood pressure levels — to reduce hospital visits and costs of care, as well as to improve your quality of life.

Our Disease Management Program provides educational sessions about kidney disease for patients and families.

The “Taking Care of Kidneys” program targets patients in the early stages of kidney disease to teach them about these management guidelines and how to slow down — or in some cases, reverse — the progression of the disease.

Patients in later stages of kidney disease participate in “Kidney Talk” to learn about various dialysis options and to select one appropriate for their family and lifestyle.

Home Training Program

It’s not easy to begin dialysis treatments. Not only are you worried about your health; you’re also concerned about making frequent, hours-long visits to a medical facility for the procedure.

These days, there are a variety of home-based dialysis treatments available, allowing patients to have greater independence with fewer interruptions to daily living.

Our Home Training Program, combined with our educational programs that teach patients and families about caring for kidney disease, provides training and support for the most up-to-date methods of home hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.

A team of nurses, social workers and dietitians educates patients on everything from deciding which form of dialysis best fits their lifestyle to how to use the therapy in their home. The program serves any UVA patient getting ready to begin dialysis or making decisions about which method to use.

SitFit Exercise Program

UVA promotes exercise for kidney disease patients during dialysis treatments.

All UVA hemodialysis patients are are offered the SitFit Exercise Program. During your dialysis treatments, you’ll exercise under the supervision of a renal exercise physiologist, using cycle ergometers, resistance bands, hand weights and ankle weights.

Doing so promotes muscle blood flow, which increases the amount of body tissue exposed to the dialysis treatment and offers better results in clearing toxins from the body.

Exercise also improves a kidney patient’s quality of life by increasing growth hormone levels, helping to avoid or slow muscle wasting and improving sleep, appetite and mood.