Today, November 18th from 15.30 to 16.30 CET time, the last PROCKD webinar takes place. The ProCKD project is about exchanging good practices for the professional integration of adults with chronic kidney disease. The Federación Nacional de Asociaciones ALCER is hosting the ProCKD webinar

ProCKD Webinar Agenda

If you want to join the webinar, click on the Teams link here

• 15.30  Health related Quality of life reported by the own patient (PROMs);
• 15.50  Measurement of work disability  and use economic valuations;
• 16.10  Round table and questions

ProCKD is about exchanging good practices for the professional integration of adults with chronic kidney disease. On October 7th-8th 2022 the final meeting was organised in Athens, Greece. The ProCKD project focuses on the needs and problems of patients with chronic kidney desease to support them in training and education, employment and entrepreneurship, removing the obstacles for a person who wish to have a fulfilling professional life. The ProCKD project is co-funded by the Erasmus + programme of the European union

ProCKD Team

EPIONI organised the transnational project meeting and had arranged a very interesting programme, with a lot of evaluation ingredients. The ProCKD team also scheduled the last activity, the ProCKD webinar on November 18th 2022. In the meeting Greek EU parliamentary Stelios Kympouropoulos praised the work of Greek Carers Network EPIONI, reagrding care taking around chronic kidney disease. The coordinator of the ProCKD partnership is the Federación Nacional de Asociaciones ALCER (Spain). Antonio summarised the journey we have travelled so far, and explained our ’to do list’. Saronic Nephrological Center (Greece), Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain), Istannbul Gelisim University (Turkeu) and the Dutch Foundation onf Innovation Welfare 2 Work (The Netherlands) all reviewed the good practices collected and presentented so far.

ProCKD Good Practices

The project website www.prockd.eu, powered by the Federación Nacional de Asociaciones ALCER has made a very clear breakdown of the activities and good practices collected, so far. Currently the ProCKD website is being updated and upgraded. Other information, documents and presentations on the training carried out by the ProCKD consortium are showcased on the website as well. Few documents you really need to read, are;

• Employment status and indirect costs in patients with renal failure: differences between different modalities of renal replacement therapy
• Employment in the patient with chronic kidney disease related to renal replacement therapy

Coming up

• ProCKD Webinar, November 18th 2022, 11.00 CET

Another ProCKD Transnational Project Meeting is currently being held in Madrid. On May 9th-10th 2022 we had a meeting in Madrid, Spain. The ProCKD project focuses on the needs and problems of patients with chronic kidney desease to support them in training and education, employment and entrepreneurship, removing the obstacles for a person who wish to have a fulfilling professional life.

The Federación Nacional de Asociaciones ALCER organised the transnational meeting and had arranged a very varied programme, with among others a visit to COCEMFE, the Spanish Confederation of People with Physical and Organic Disabilities.

The meeting in Madrid was perfectly coherent with the objectives of the partnership, has been well developed according to the initial planning and has dealt with all the aspects related to the
development of the ProCKD project and presentations on the perspectives brought by each organisation to the project topic: the improvement of working conditions for both maintenance and job search of patients with chronic kidney diseases or patients designated as ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease), especially those patients who face numerous barriers after starting dialysis treatments.

ProCKD Good Practices
Currently all partners are gathering their good practices. It will be very good to see what kind of elements work in each partner country, so we will be able to find out the key elements of a succesful future ProCKD project implemenetation.

The ProCKD Newsletter covers the Dutch ProCKD training activity held at AREA071. Presentations and workshops were made that supported the purpose of the project and helped to develop the competencies of the target group. In particular, examples of good practice were introduced to integrate patients with Chronic Kidney Disease with peer leaders in the business world. A wee look back in ProCKD time.

ProCKD newsletter number 4 covers the 2nd transnational meeting of the Pro-CKD project, which was held in Istanbul in January 2022. Participants came together again on the campus of Istanbul Gelişim University. The project ProCKD is funded by the European Union and draws attention to the socio-economic problems faced by individuals suffering from kidney diseases. The focus of this project includes, how kidney patients can continue their jobs after starting dialysis, how to encourage them to continue education and training, and how to help unemployed patients find meaningful jobs.

We have just finished the Dutch ProCKD training Days at Area071 in Leiderdorp, Zuid-Holland. The short-term joint staff training event was held in AREA071 an Employability and Entrepreneurial hub at the border of the city Leiden (The Netherlands) from February 23rd to the 25th 2022. The presentations and workshops supported the capacity building of the stakeholders and partners, thus helping the development of the necessary patient competences. The learning activities have been a good chance to show good practice in integrating patients with Chronic Kidney Disease as peer leaders in the world of work. The Dutch training days directly strengthened the competences of patients with Chronic Kidney Disease and their family to motivate them to engage in further professional development.

Dutch Employment, Employability and Entrepreneurship Study Days
The ProCKD Staff was trained during the Dutch training courses, that followed the principles of non-formal education through social entrepreneurship and employability, empowering them to become creators and promoters of their own brand. The emphasis during the ProCKD Training was on the dutch employabillity and entrepreneurship perspective. Some dutch Facts:

• The Dutch economy is booming, but the downside is that there is a major shortage of personnel. The Dutch economy is already bigger than before the corona crisis and this has impact in the labor market: there is a lot of demand for employees, so much that there are shortages.
• There are 126 vacancies for every 100 unemployed.
• In the Netherlands, 800,000 people are no longer able to do their work in whole or in part.
• 236.515 Dutch people incapacitated for work (WAO : Law for people incapacitated for work)
• 327.952 people are are in a work capacity benefit. (WIA -Work and Income according to Labor Capacity Act. )
• 244.183 young people in the Wajong Act who have no or are unable to develop work capacity (Wajong)
• More than 12% (2 million people) of the Dutch population has chronic kidney damage. Complaints often only arise when the kidney function is only 30%. People with chronic kidney damage have an increased risk of kidney failure and death from cardiovascular disease.

The unemployment rate in Netherlands averaged at 5.47 % from 2003 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 7.9 % in February of 2014 and a record low of 3.6 % February 2008. In January 2022 we are at the same low level.

Work is Treatment

Many people who start dialysis or have a transplant want to go back to work.  Some people feel it helps them get their lives get back to normal. Some people continue to work full time as they begin treatment. Others switch to a part-time or flexible schedule. Some people ask for jobs that are less physically demanding. The topics kidney patients want to discuss with their employer are:

• Changing your work schedule to allow for dialysis and healthcare visits
• Making up time taken off for medicalreasons
• Physical limitations, if any
• What to do in case of an emergency
• Activity Models for All

A very good example of an activity model is the Werkcenter Model. This model consists the following principles:

• One Size fits all
• Sanction
• Participation
• Everybody can do something
• Work First / Work as a treatment: Real Work
• Reward – If you work you should get paid
• From Work to Work
• Own Responsibility
• Local and regional Entrepreneurial strategy of the municipalities / councils: National government forced them to act as a enterprise

ProCKD Study Visit Area071

The local context was that of Leiden/Leiderdorp, the so-called Areao071, whereas the Dutch Foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work runs hosts many projects and training days. The ProCKD participants were able to experience:
* various Dutch ideas and concepts around employment, employability, and entrepreneurship;
 * new development lines of reflection and actions for improving support packages for employment and entrepreneurship for kidney patients
 * the outline of the successful Dutch Labour Market Strategies and Entrepreneurship Culture
 * the basis for building a webinar and knowledge building around the concept ‘Work is treatment and Treatment is Work’;
 * discuss new pathways and strategies of Work, Entrepreneurship, Health, and Quality of Life (and Happiness)
 * feedback and tell about their own experiences and good practices
 
ProCKD II

On Friday February 25th the purpose of the Dutch ProCKD learning activities was also to give feedback (and to assess) the good practices to certain project ideas, like ProCKD II. Especially by checking if proposed tools and approaches, used in the Netherlands to the realities of staff from all the involved countries and different working contexts could be suitable to implement in a follow up EU-project.

In addition, the participants gave input and feedback on the overall training and study visits, its content, and the ability to understand and apply the content in different realities. The learning activities were also a space to provide peer support which is crucial in this kind of internal development process and to provide guidance for each other. The training course offered the participants a unique space to become the multipliers of the project in their field of work.

The training directly strengthened the competencies of staff to be able to counsel and mentor other staff and kidney patients for employability and entrepreneurship opportunities, and to motivate them to engage in further professional development.

The Project ProCKD targets patients with Chronic Kidney Disease. We wish to employ Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease, support their employment and employability and entrepreneurship. It’s not for caregivers and not necessarily for social entrepreneurship. Patients with CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) or ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) face many barriers to remaining in or joining the workforce, especially after starting dialysis treatment. These barriers include poor employment opportunities because of disadvantaged socioeconomic status, fatigue and other symptoms of renal failure, depression and feelings of social isolation, comorbid diseases, transportation issues, potential loss of disability and/or medical assistance benefits with employment, scheduling conflicts with dialysis, and the assumption by some employers that patients on dialysis are too sick or undependable to work. During the Istanbul Meeting we addressed the opportunities, challenges and approaches of the partnership from a Turkish perspective.

2-Day Meeting Istanbul

During the meeting in Istanbul, January 10th-11th 2022, we discussed the content for the Learning Mobilities in Leiden. The Gelisim University, had outlined a great ProCKD programme of presentations, a.o.:

• Ayşe ONAT from Türk Böbrek Vakfı Presentation
• Dr. Mehran  ROSTAMZADEH from Psychology Department of IGU Presentation
• Dr. Aman SADO ELEMO from Psychology Department of IGU Presentation
• Lecturer Eda OCAK from Dean of Students Presentation
• Erdem Ünal ELLİ  from Psychological Counseling and Guidance Center-Presentation

During the meeting in Istanbul we also discussed the progress of the project, and the upcoming ProCKD Training Days in The Netherlands.

Coming Up: Dutch ProCKD Training Days

The Dutch ProCKD training, at Area071 in Leiderdorp, will support the capacity building of the stakeholders thus helping the development of the necessary patient competences. Activities will be an opportunity to develop a community of further support for the professional integration of patients and for their caregivers’ education.

For a good overview of the Dutch Training Days in Leiden, watch the MP4 Video below:

The ProCKD project focuses on the needs and problems of patients with chronic kidnet desease to support them in training and education, employment and entrepreneurship, removing the obstacles for a person who wish to have a fulfilling professional life. The 2^nd Transnational Project Meeting will be held in Istanbul, January 10th -11th 2022. Below the programme of our meeting.

The Dutch ProCKD Training Days will take place in Leiden, around April 2022. The ProCKD training will support the capacity building of the stakeholders, thus helping the development of the necessary patient competences. Activities will be an opportunity to develop a community of further support for the professional integration of patients and for their caregivers’ education. Area071 is the excellent venue for the ProCKD Trainingdays. The ProCKD project focuses on the needs and problems of patients with chronic kidnet desease to support them in training and education, employment and entrepreneurship, removing the obstacles for a person who wish to have a fulfilling professional life.

The ProCKD project will focus on the needs and problems of patients from Spain, Turkey, Greece, and the Netherlands, regarding how the employed patients cann be assured to stay in the workforce after initiation of dialysis, how they can be convinced to continue training and education, and how unemployed patients can be helped to join the workforce. Understanding the factors influencing employment rates, removing the obstacles for a person who wish to have a fulfilling professional life.

Learning Activity

The learning activity in Aegina, Greece, will be a chance to show a direct practice in integrating patients with Chronic Kidney Disease as peer leaders. The training will directly strengthen competences of patients with Chronic Kidney Disease and their family to be able to council and mentor other patients with Chronic Kidney Disease for employability and entrepreneurship opportunities, and to motivate them to engage in further professional development.

Patients with CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) or ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) face many barriers to remaining in or joining the workforce. Especially, after starting dialysis treatment. These include poor employment opportunities because of disadvantaged socioeconomic status, fatigue and other symptoms of renal failure, depression and feelings of social isolation, comorbid diseases, transportation issues, potential loss of disability and/or medical assistance benefits with employment, scheduling conflicts with dialysis, and the assumption by some employers that patients on dialysis are too sick or undependable to work. This societal perception that patients with ESRD are unable to work completes a vicious cycle of low expectations for employment.

For employment preserving strategies to succeed, there must be a fundamental change in the way that health care is delivered to vulnerable populations, with improved disease management and funding for the social services required to overcome the employment disincentives. Improving access to medical care, including early evaluation by a nephrologist; availability of home dialysis modalities; proper patient preparation, including integrated pre-dialysis education models; and encouraging vocational rehabilitation are possible interventions to assist patients in rejoining or remaining in the workforce.

This societal perception that patients with ESRD are unable to work completes a vicious cycle of low expectations for employment. For employment-preserving strategies to succeed, there must be a fundamental change in the way that health care is delivered to vulnerable populations, with improved disease management and funding for the social services required to overcome the employment disincentives.

Improving access to medical care, including early evaluation by a nephrologist; availability of home dialysis modalities; proper patient preparation, including integrated pre-dialysis education models; and encouraging vocational rehabilitation are possible interventions to assist patients in rejoining or remaining in the workforce.

Training Activity Brochure