What is Staff-Assisted Home Dialysis?

If you’re trying to make a decision about whether you’d like to opt for staff-assisted home dialysis or home dialysis treatment, then it’s important for you to consider the differences between these two options. While both options offer greater freedom and comfort than in-center treatment, they each have different things to offer patients. You’ll need to consider what you want your lifestyle to be like before you make a decision on which dialysis option is best for you.

Who Performs Your Treatment?

One of the biggest differences between staff-assisted home dialysis and home dialysis is who performs your treatment. If you just opt for home dialysis, you will eventually have to perform dialysis treatment yourself. In the beginning, you will be trained by a medical professional to administer the treatment and be given advice about keeping records of your treatment. However, once this training is complete, you’ll be responsible for doing it on your own. With staff-assisted home dialysis, you won’t have to complete the treatment on your own. Instead, a licensed nurse will be responsible for doing it for you each and every visit.

Who Supports You?

During home dialysis, you’ll be responsible for your treatments, but you also have to select a care partner to help support you through the process. In most cases, a care partner is a spouse, family member, or close friend. Although this kind of support is comforting, it does require you to rely on someone else during your care, and you may feel bad about leaving this responsibility with someone. With staff-assisted home dialysis treatment, there is no need for a care partner. The licensed nurse who administers your treatment will support you, and you’ll always be under the supervision of your doctor. You can always have your family continue to support you, but you won’t need to take up much as much of their time.

What Your Dialysis Schedule Looks Like?

Another big difference between home dialysis treatment and staff-assisted home dialysis is the schedule that you set your dialysis on. When you’re responsible for administering your treatments, there are lots of things that you must consider when you set your schedule, such as how tired or how well you feel every day. You may have to do your dialysis when you’re not feeling up to it, and that can lead to mistakes or unfortunate side effects. With staff-assisted home dialysis, you won’t be responsible for the treatment, so you will be able to undergo it even if you are feeling tired. Your nurse will take care of it, so you don’t ever have to worry about it.