AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF KIDNEY PATIENTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 26, 2018
MORE Information:
Deborah Pelaez
(800) 749-AAKP / [email protected]
AAKP ADVANCES EFFORTS ON EMPLOYMENT AND KIDNEY DISEASE
NEW WEBINAR PARTNERSHIP WITH ESRD NETWORKS
Tampa, FL – The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP), the nation’s oldest and largest, fully independent kidney patient organization, continues efforts related to employment for people with kidney disease through a patient-focused AAKP HealthLine webinar on August 7 at 1 p.m. EST. The webinar is free to attend, but registration is required by visiting https://aakp.org/aakp-healthline/. The webinar will be recorded and archived on www.aakp.org for enduring education.
The HealthLine webinar advances the KidneyWorks initiative developed by AAKP and the Medical Education Institute (MEI) (https://aakp.org/press-release/independence-workers-chronic-kidney-disease-means-keeping-job-avoiding-disability/) – a research and policy collaboration aimed at helping Americans with chronic kidney disease (CKD), who are not on dialysis, maintain their jobs and slow their disease progression. The HealthLine webinar is presented in collaboration with the following ESRD Networks: IPRO Network of New England; IPRO Network of New York; IPRO Network of the South Atlantic; Quality Insights Renal Networks 3, 4, and 5; Network 8, Inc.; and HealthInsight Northwest Renal Network – and focuses on the benefits of continued employment for those across the disease spectrum. Speakers include experts in employment and vocational rehabilitation issues. Presentations will discuss tools, resources and renal replacement therapy options that support continued employment along with information on re-entry into the workforce for individuals who are able to return to work following disability or receiving a kidney transplant.
Paul T. Conway, President of AAKP and a former Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of Labor stated, “AAKP has been a consistent champion of kidney patients and their efforts to choose treatments that best align with their desires to stay in the workforce and pursue their careers. AAKP strongly defends disability benefits and rights for all kidney patients but understands that most patients are better positioned to pursue their aspirations when they able to remain in the workforce either full-time or part-time, thus the importance of treatment choices including pre-emptive transplants and home dialysis.”
An estimated 10% of U.S. adults, more than 20 million Americans, have some degree of CKD, ranging from stages 1 to 5 (kidney failure). Millions of Americans afflicted with the earliest stages are currently in the labor force and successfully hold jobs long before the need for renal replacement therapy (dialysis or a kidney transplant) at CKD stage 5. Phase 1 of KidneyWorks produced a White Paper identifying barriers to continued employment for those diagnosed with CKD (https://aakp.org/press-release/kidneyworks-conference-concludes-d-c/). Phase 2 of KidneyWorks addresses those barriers through a variety of tools and resources that support job retention and can be utilized by patients as well as employers. The upcoming HealthLine webinar supports the patient needs identified within the KidneyWorks project.
For more information about this AAKP HealthLine webinar, guest speakers or to register, visit www.aakp.org/aakp-healthline.
For more information about KidneyWorks, visit: http://www.kidneyworks.org/.
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