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www.irishkidneydiet.ie
New kidney diet website launched
Pauline Connolly is
a Senior Renal Dietitian,
Cavan and Monaghan
Hospital and is a member
of the Renal Interest Group
of the Irish Nutrition and
Dietetic Institute.
Correction:
“We would like to
acknowledge Briege O'Kane,
Senior Renal Dietitian,
Department of Nutrition and
Dietetics, Letterkenny
University Hospital as the
author of the Renal Interest
Group article in the last
edition of SUPPORT.
14
www.irishkidneydiet.ie, a NEW website created for patients with
chronic kidney disease has been launched by the Irish Nutrition and
Dietetic Institute (INDI).
www.irishkidneydiet is the brain child of a small group of state-
registered Dietitians from the Renal Interest Group (RIG) of the INDI.
The vision behind the website was to create a patient education
website covering all aspects of the kidney diet for people with
chronic kidney disease and their carers.
It is estimated that up to 280,000 individuals in Ireland and more
than 70 million individuals worldwide have Chronic Kidney Disease
(CKD). 1
The importance of dietetics in CKD is well referenced 2,3 and it is
the role of the Renal Dietitian to educate the CKD patient to
manipulate their diet sufficiently to;
• Minimise the complications of progressive CKD (e.g. malnutrition,
hyperkalaemia, hyperphosphataemia, Mineral Bone Disease),
• Slow disease progression,
• Achieve a nutritionally balanced diet and also
• Ensure that their diet enhances quality of life and limits disease
burden!
To date, this has typically been achieved through regular dietetic
assessment and review and, usage of educational material that
is predominantly paper-based diet sheets with hand written
individualisation. However, with the growth of information
technology, increased availability of handheld devices and access to
the internet, there is a trend to move away from paper-based
reading materials in favour of more information technology based
learning applications.
For the last number of years renal patients have been required to
move with the times but the only websites available for this patient
group were often American or Canadian and therefore were not
100% suitable for our patient group (due to differences in teaching
methods, renal diet allowances used and availability of food items
in recipes).
It was timely that, following the provision of an education bursary
to the RIG from Shire Medical, work commenced on the project in
2014.
The team behind the website comprised of: Theresa Rennick,
Senior Renal Dietitian, Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore; Bernice
Moore, Senior Renal Dietitian, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin; Pauline
Connolly, Senior Renal Dietitian, Cavan and Monaghan Hospital;
Orla Power, Senior Renal Dietitian, St. Vincents University Hospital,
Dublin; Celene Sands, Senior Renal Dietitian, Mayo University
Hospital; Jean Savage, Renal Dietitian, Tallaght Hospital; and Grainne
Corrigan, Dietitian, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.
The developing team behind this initiative are extremely aware
that the kidney diet places challenging restrictions on adults with
kidney disease, and requires planning, imagination and practical
ideas. It is not a simple process to switch from a normal diet with
no limitations to one with many, and those with kidney disease and
their carers often struggle to inject a little variety into their day-to-
day renal diet.
IKA S UPPORT W INTER 2016