Maximising wellbeing in kidney care

We set out to understand how remote kidney monitoring devices could be designed and deployed to maximise patient and staff trust and confidence.

We produced a practical guide for developers of new devices for remote monitoring and self-testing of kidney function. 

The guide shows how devices can be designed:

• To maximise kidney patient’s wellbeing; and 
• improve job quality for health professionals.  

The guide is in two parts:

1. Experience statements that describe what good remote monitoring of kidney function looks like.  There are five themes for people living with kidney disease and five for health professionals providing kidney care.
2. Service principles that bring attention to what is important when making decisions about how to design and deploy a service for remote monitoring of kidney function.

You can view the guide in full on our project page of the Health Foundation’s website.

Background

Our experience and perception of our mental and physical health is the biggest single factor that explains, on average, how we rate our wellbeing.  Acute health problems affect wellbeing the most, and long term chronic ill health puts people at increased risk of low wellbeing.

A recent report from the Centre for Mental Health highlights, kidney disease is a risk factor for poor mental wellbeing, and poor mental wellbeing is a risk factor for worse outcomes for people with kidney disease.

Currently regular check-ups for people who need their kidney function monitoring usually take place in hospitals or clinics. This means patients often need to travel and wait for tests, even when they are well and have no other need to see a healthcare professional.  New technologies in development could instead enable patients to self-test their kidney function at home.

What was done?

This project explored how the introduction of new technologies for remote monitoring could be designed to both improve patient wellbeing and increase job quality for kidney healthcare professionals.

We wanted to understand:

• How kidney care currently works.
• What kidney patients and healthcare professionals feel about new ways of monitoring kidney function.
• What experts developing new kidney monitoring approaches should consider when designing these technologies.

In November 2023, we asked 80 kidney patients and 40 renal healthcare professionals to share their views on how kidney care is currently provided and the impact new technologies could have.

In April 2024, we asked participants to rank which features of new devices are the most important and to explore how devices could be customised to meet their needs. 

Who did we work with?

This project is developed with the Q Lab and supported by the Health Foundation and NHS England. 

It is delivered in partnership with the UK Kidney MedTech Research Network and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.