Kidney-care patients who are activated, or who have the knowledge, skills and confidence to self-manage their care, have better health outcomes. Conversely, research shows that patients with lower activation levels are disadvantaged along every step of the kidney care continuum.
These low-activated patients:
- Are less likely to know they are at risk for chronic kidney disease or have conversations with their clinical teams about how to prevent CKD
- Experience a higher symptom burden and reduced quality of life
- Are less likely to get a transplant, especially a living donor transplant
- Are more vulnerable to poor transplant outcomes
- Have a higher risk of mortality, compared to higher-activated patients.
