HSA offers free health screenings and consultations to kidney disease patients and public
Updated:
26 April, 2023
The Health Services Authority (HSA) will be offering free health screenings and consultations with its physicians and dieticians to mark the annual observance of World Kidney Day. The public event will take place Thursday, 11 March 2021 7:00 am - 12:30 pm in the Cayman Islands Hospital Atrium.The health screenings will include weight, height, total cholesterol, glucose levels, HbA1C (for those with high glucose levels) and blood pressure checks.This year’s theme, “Living Well with Kidney Disease” aims to both increase education and awareness about effective symptom management and patient empowerment among those affected by kidney disease, with the goal of encouraging life participation.“This event is beneficial to those who have been diagnosed with kidney disease just as much as it is to persons attending for preventative purposes,” advised Dialysis Unit Nurse Manager Erlin McLeod. “The physicians and dietitians available will discuss with you, your care-partners or family members specific ways to become meaningfully involved in the management and treatment of your disease.“They can discuss more effective and more integrated and holistic symptom management for kidney disease beyond traditional kidney therapies including effective strategies to identify and manage symptoms that cause suffering including pain, sleep issues, anxiety, depression, stress, mobility, frailty, and others,” she explained. “You can also ask for more education and management strategies to alleviate these symptoms so that you and your care-partners can have a better health-related quality of life.”The International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF), founders of the global campaign, states that whilst effective measures to prevent kidney disease and its progression are important, patients with kidney disease – including those who depend on dialysis and transplantation – and their care-partners should also feel supported, especially during pandemics and other challenging periods, by the concerted efforts of kidney care communities.World Kidney Day is a global campaign that aims to raise awareness of the importance of the kidneys to people’s overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.