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April 7, 2023
New website for kidney patients receives positive feedback in study
A website designed to help kidney patients understand and self-manage their disease has received very positive feedback from users in a study.
My Kidneys My Health (MKMH) is a freely available, interactive website that provides people living with kidney disease with information on relevant health-related topics. It includes different multimedia components (i.e., video with subtitles, text, audio), and special tools to actively engage people in taking on lifestyle changes and promote enhanced communication with health care providers (e.g., a personalized food list, a mental health screening tool, and a prompt aid for discussions with health care providers).
In their study, Maoliosa Donald et al. sought to evaluate kidney patients’ perceptions of the MKMH website through surveys with 22 users and in-depth interviews with 15 users, all of whom were fluent English-speakers. The average satisfaction score for website was rated 7.7 out of 10, and more than 70% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the website was easy to use and useful. Some patients commented on how the website influenced their lifestyle behaviours, including changing their diet and exercising, and stopping nonprescription medications that could be harmful. Particularly popular website pages and interactive features included: Food and Diet, What is Chronic Kidney Disease, My Question List and the Depression Screener.
Based on the results of the study, the authors propose that the MKMH website may be best suited for patients with early or newly diagnosed CKD, or for those experiencing changes in health status.
