Kidney Talk: Part 2 with Dixon Hall Neighbourhood Services

On October 31^st, 2019, KHERG was excited to be invited back to Dixon Hall Neighbourhood Services to deliver the second part of our presentation on kidney health and transplantation. Despite the rainy weather, we were happy to see the familiar faces of community members who attended our first kidney health presentation with Dixon Hall in September.

During our October session, a volunteer with the Chinese Renal Association spoke about her experience with Chronic Kidney Disease and how her kidney transplant helped her feel better and regain the ability to do everyday things like dancing. Her story ignited many questions from attendees around the causes and symptoms of Chronic Kidney Disease. Dr. Istvan Mucsi provided an overview of Chronic Kidney Disease and its different treatment options, including dialysis, transplantation, and conservative care. While discussing the benefits and downsides of each treatment option, Dr. Mucsi explained why transplantation, and specifically living donor kidney transplantation, is the optimal treatment option for patients.

Thanks to Bill Li, KHERG’s Lead Python Developer, we were able to provide interpretation of the presentation in Mandarin to facilitate a more inclusive discussion around kidney health and transplant with attendees. We were also pleased to have the Chinese Renal Association and the UHN Centre for Living Organ Donation join us at this event to provide resources and materials to Chinese community members related to kidney health and living organ donation.

Our team was privileged to participate in this event and foster a fruitful discussion with the Chinese community around the importance of kidney health as well as ensuring equitable access to living donor kidney transplant for all patients. We look forward to working with Dixon Hall to continue this discussion soon!