The Kimberley Renal Support Service – a regional innovation providing practical support and education
Dr Cherelle Fitzclarence, Kimberley Aboriginal Health Service, Australia*
Dr Kevin Warr, Royal Perth Hospital, Australia
Ms Maree Wearne, Kimberley Aboriginal Health Service, Australia
Ms Roseanne Graham, Kimberley Aboriginal Health Service, Australia
Dr David Atkinson, Kimberley Aboriginal Health Service, Australia
One in three Australians are at risk of developing kidney disease. In 2008 there were 877 million people in Australia receiving renal replacement therapy, with diabetes and glomerulonephritis the most common causes. The incidence of renal replacement therapy has been steadily increasing. For Indigenous people in 2008, 2208 people per million were dialysis dependent as opposed to 471pmp for Australia overall. The Kimberley in the remote North West of Australia, consists of 421,000 square kilometers of rugged and sparsely populated land with an ABS estimated population of 41,000 (with 48%, Indigenous as opposed to 3.2% of Western Australian population overall). The Kimberley, like the Northern Territory, has some of the highest rates of renal failure in the world.
In 2003 a plan for a Kimberley Renal Support Service (KRSS) was mooted to address this epidemic with some funding finally obtained in 2008. The KRSS is a collaborative regional service that aims to address the whole problem of renal disease from risk factors, to early disease, chronic kidney disease, and end stage kidney disease. It is a multidisciplinary service with Nurses, Aboriginal Health Workers, Social Support Workers and Doctors. It is supported by the services of a visiting Nephrologist. In an area with a high staff turnover it is essential that health professionals are quickly engaged and regularly updated on the provision of renal health care. One of the ways this is occurring is with weekly education sessions and training for rural and remote doctors including weekly video conferences with all towns and some major remote clinics in the region.
This presentation will describe the Kimberley Renal Support Service and how it works to engage, educate and practically support the health care workforce in the Kimberley to prevent and better manage the epidemic of renal disease.
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