Program offers home dialysis training

Name of program: Diversified Specialties Institute, 7407 N. Division St., Suite F, 465-4779.

What it does: The program teaches caregivers of those with end-stage renal failure how to give dialysis. They offer lessons in conventional dialysis, nocturnal dialysis and peritoneal dialysis. Those receiving care for renal failure can’t get dialysis without a helper.

Brandy Leaming, the home training registered nurse with the company, said home dialysis can be time-consuming. The nocturnal hemodialysis needs to be done every other night and can take up to eight hours.

Who runs it: Diversified Specialties Institute

How to get help: Patients receiving care need to speak with their nephrologists, or kidney doctors, about in-home care.

Typical client: The patients are end stage or Stage 5 renal patients. They accept Medicare and Medicaid.

How to help: The company is a for-profit company, but it is always in need of volunteers.

“We look for volunteers for the training,” Leaming said. Many renal patients live in outlying neighborhoods and can’t make it to the clinic for dialysis. The training program lasts for six to eight weeks.