NKF AT A GLANCE

The National Kidney Foundation offers many programs and services for professionals and for kidney patients and their families. Read on to learn about the areas where we focus our efforts.

PATIENT SERVICES

Serving and supporting patients and families whose lives are changed forever by kidney disease

NKF empowers kidney disease patients so they can make key decisions and take control of their own health care. Local support groups, counseling, financial assistance, newsletters and online patient communities are some of the ways NKF stands side by side with patients and families.

NKF’s Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP)® is designed to find kidney disease at the earliest stage when prevention of kidney failure is still possible. KEEP offers free screenings for those at risk—anyone with high blood pressure, diabetes or a family history of kidney disease.

The program screens more than 2,500 people each month in communities across the United States.

PUBLIC EDUCATION

Initiatives that heighten awareness of the importance of early detection and the desperate need for organ donation

Through national media campaigns reaching millions each year, celebrity spokespeople, a comprehensive Web site, and hundreds of informational brochures on a variety of kidney-related topics, NKF takes its critical message to the public.

NKF also conducts the U.S. Transplant Games, a biennial Olympic-style competition for recipients of lifesaving organ transplants. The event showcases the success of transplantation while calling attention to the critical need for organ donors.

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

Ensuring that kidney doctors and other health care professionals never stop learning

Since our patients’ needs can only be met by well-informed professionals, NKF’s Kidney Learning System provides an array of Continuing Medical Education and Continuing Education Units (CME and CEU) opportunities, as well as enduring educational materials.

Thousands of health care professionals join NKF as members and attend the annual NKF Spring Clinical Meetings. The NKF also publishes four respected, peer-reviewed scientific journals.

NKF’s Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) has developed and disseminated 12 clinical practice guidelines for the care of people at all stages of CKD. The NKF also manages an international organization, KDIGO, which is dedicated to improving outcomes for CKD patients worldwide.

RESEARCH

Finding answers to important questions

Over the past 40 years, NKF has awarded $73 million in grants to more than 1,000 kidney disease researchers and scientists. This support is helping investigators determine the cause of kidney disease, how we can prevent its progress, and what we can do to improve quality of life for those with kidney disease today. NKF invests $3 million annually through more than 60 awards granted to the brightest minds in science so that every day will bring us closer to those answers.

PATIENT ADVOCACY

Making patients’ voices heard

NKF’s far-reaching advocacy programs impact legislation on a number of key issues of concern to our constituents, including CKD education, living organ donation, and Medicare coverage for dialysis, transplantation and essential medications.

“People Like Us” is a growing movement spearheaded by NKF to educate and empower people with CKD, transplant recipients, donors and family members to become effective advocates on issues related to their own health. The NKF Take Action Network enables advocates to e-mail their views easily to legislators.