Is self care haemodialysis right for you?

Many kidney units at hospitals across the world encourage people to participate in their own treatment. The degree of participation can cover a whole range of activities from just monitoring your diet, to carrying out some of the simpler tasks during your dialysis treatment at your dialysis centre, to performing your whole dialysis treatment independently at home. All these different levels of participation can be referred to as "self care".

Whatever the level of self care you undertake, all can

• provide you with more control over your treatment and greater independence.
• save yourself time - either by not having to wait for nursing assistance at your centre or even avoiding regular travelling time to your dialysis unit, should you choose to dialyse at home .
• offer you more flexibility about when, where and how often you dialyse. This might allow you to return to work or have more leisure time.
• lead to your better understanding and ability to manage your condition
• improve your lifestyle and quality of life

Why self care at home might be right for you:

• You do not have to travel to a unit to dialyse. You will, most probably, still have to go to your hospital every six to eight weeks for clinic appointments.
• In a dialysis unit you will dialyse three times a week for between three and a half and five hours. At home you have the freedom to dialyse more often and/or for longer if you wish. Dialysing for longer usually means that you will feel better and it reduces the risk of developing other medical conditions.
• You may be able to dialyse overnight instead of during the day.
• You will have more independence and flexibility to fit dalysis around your work, family and leisure time.
• You may have a less restricted diet, if you choose to dialyse daily

Why self care at home might not be right for you

- You might feel you need the support of nurses around you.
- You might not have enough room in your home for the currently available dialysis machines and   other equipment.
- If you live alone you might feel you prefer to have support on hand should you need it.
- There might be a medical reason why you are not able to dialyse at home.You might not be fit or well enough to consider self-care dialysis.

Please note: These are only some of the points for you to consider. Your healthcare team is there to help you decide what is best for you. Always discuss your options with them.