The Supportive Care Special Interest Group (SIG) brings together members of the kidney community to strengthen supportive care for adults and children with advanced kidney disease. Supportive kidney care may be provided alongside dialysis or other treatments, or as part of conservative kidney management. It includes symptom management, shared decision-making, advance care planning and support as a person’s needs change.
The SIG develops clinical guidance, education and evidence to help multiprofessional teams provide safe, effective and person-centred care.
Medical Co-Chair
MPT Co-Chair
The SIG’s responsibilities include:
The SIG operates through focused task and finish groups. This allows members to contribute to defined projects according to their expertise and interests.
The SIG is developing guidance on the management of pain, pruritus, fatigue and gastrointestinal symptoms in people with advanced kidney disease. Dedicated groups are reviewing the evidence and developing recommendations for practice.
The SIG is developing guidance to support the assessment and care of people living with frailty and chronic kidney disease. The work draws on a review of the available evidence and contributions from focused task-and-finish groups.
The SIG has undertaken research exploring how supportive kidney care is understood by patients, carers and healthcare professionals. The findings will help inform clearer terminology, communication and education across the kidney community.
The SIG is reviewing the use and evaluation of existing UKKA psychosocial e-learning. This includes examining who is accessing the training, how it affects professional confidence and what feedback participants have provided.
The findings will help identify priorities for future psychosocial education and skills-based training.
The SEISMIC study mapped models of supportive kidney care across the UK, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. It examined how services are organised, who contributes to care and the activities provided by different teams.
The findings identified considerable variation in service models, resources and delivery between kidney units and countries.
This supplement to the Association for Paediatric Palliative Medicine Formulary provides additional support for the pharmacological management of children with chronic kidney disease receiving palliative care.
Do you have a research idea relating to supportive kidney care or conservative kidney management?
The SIG holds online sessions where members can present an early-stage idea or completed project, receive feedback and connect with clinicians and researchers working in this area. The sessions are led by Professor Fliss Murtagh and Dr Barny Hole.