Kidney Disease
Healthy Hair Starts with a Healthy Body™
The Healthy Hair Starts with a Healthy Body™ program trains African American hair stylists in how to discuss nutrition- and physical activity-focused chronic disease prevention strategies with their clients. The health chat, the centerpiece of the stylist-client intervention, involves hair stylists sharing the information they received with their clients and encouraging them to take one or more steps to improve their health. This award-winning program began in 1999. 
Dodge the Punch: Live Right™
The Dodge the Punch: Live Right™ program trains African American barbers in how to discuss nutrition- and physical activity-focused chronic disease prevention strategies with their clients. The health chat, the centerpiece of the stylist-client intervention, involves barbers sharing the information they received with their clients and encouraging them to take one or more steps to improve their health.
KEEP Screening dates and info
KEEP, Kidney Early Evaluation Program, is a health-screening program designed to identify individuals at increased risk for kidney disease and encourage these individuals to seek further evaluation and follow up from a physician. KEEP is a free screening program designed for individuals at highest risk for kidney disease. High risk individuals include those with diabetes, hypertension and/or who have immediate family members with hypertension, diabetes or kidney disease. For more information about KEEP please contact Maurie Ferriter.
Healthy Families Start with You
Healthy Families Start with You (HFSY) is a free health education and health behavior change program that is offered to parents of preschool children. The goal of the HFSY program is to help families make healthier nutrition and physical activity choices to help lower the risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, and chronic kidney disease.
NKFM Kids Programs
The NKFM offers a number of programs targeted at educating Michigan's children on how kidneys work and why it's important to keep them healthy. The Kids and Kidneys program, the KICK program (Kids Interested in the Care of their Kidneys), and the Healthy Kids program serves elementary, middle and high school students across Michigan. In 2007, the NKFM Kids programs educated more than 105,000 children.
Regie's Rainbow Adventure
The East Central Diabetic Outreach Network and the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan have developed a program for grade school age children to educate and encourage healthy eating. The program, called Regie's Rainbow Adventure, works off the idea that eating the colors of the rainbow with fruits and vegetables can teach kids that eating nutritious things can be fun. This promotes healthier eating for both the children and their family members.
Diabetes Outreach Networks
The Michigan Diabetes Outreach Network consists of 6 regional networks which serve as regional resource and information centers on current diabetes practice and education issues. The National Kidney Foundation of Michigan oversees three of the DON regions including SEMDON covering southeast Michigan, ECDON covering east central Michigan, and TENDON covering ten counties in west Michigan.
Healthy Communities Start with You
The federally-funded program - called Healthy Communities Start with You - provides the skills and tools needed to promote excellence in patient self-care and improve health outcomes through using evidence-based programs: PATH, Tomando Control de su Salud, EnhanceFitness and Diabetes Self-Management Training.
Keys to Kidney Health
The NKFM’s Keys to Kidney Health is an innovative worksite-based health education and health behavior change program designed to raise awareness about chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Increasing evidence shows that with a little information and a bit of motivation, factors that increase a person’s risk for these diseases can be reduced. This program utilizes a diverse set of modalities to educate and empower Michigan workers to make healthy lifestyles choices.
The Facts About Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
- 26 million Americans - 1 in 8 US adults - have CKD and another 20 million more are at increased risk.
- Early detection can help prevent the progression of kidney disease to kidney failure.
- Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is the best estimate of kidney function.
- Hypertension causes CKD and CKD causes hypertension.
- Persistent proteinuria means CKD.
- High risk groups include those with diabetes, hypertension and family history of kidney disease.
- African Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and Seniors are at increased risk.
- Three simple tests can detect CKD: blood pressure, urine and serum creatinine.
What is Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)?
Chronic kidney disease includes conditions that damage your kidneys and decrease their ability to keep you healthy by doing the jobs listed. If kidney disease gets worse, wastes can build to high levels in your blood and make you feel sick. You may develop complications like high blood pressure, anemia (low blood count), weak bones, poor nutritional health and nerve damage. Also, kidney disease increases your risk of having heart and blood vessel disease. These problems may happen slowly over a long period of time. Chronic kidney disease may be caused by diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders. Early detection and treatment can often keep chronic kidney disease from getting worse. When kidney disease progresses, it may eventually lead to kidney failure, which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant to maintain life.
