Glenda Roberts
Director, External Relations and Patient Engagement for Kidney Research Institute & Center for Dialysis Innovation, University of Washington
Diagnosed with kidney disease at 21, Glenda V. Roberts managed her disease with diet and exercise for 40 years because she was only offered dialysis as a treatment option. Since becoming the Director of External Relations and Patient Engagement at the University of Washington Kidney Research Institute in 2018, she has published and co-authored 30+ papers in high impact medical and kidney disease journals, served on the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) - American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Task Force to Reassess the Use of Race in Diagnosing Kidney Disease and the Kidney Health Initiative Board of directors, received the ASN President's Medal, and two US President’s Volunteer Service Awards (2020, 2022) for her work related to kidney diseases. She brings the patient voice to several research projects and patient advocacy organizations and initiatives.
Presenting Modules:
There are significant health and medication-related disparities in black persons with CKD that need to be addressed. In Part 1, we will address some of the history and current experiences that have led to Black community and/or Black individual distrust in the US Health system and healthcare practitioners.
As discussed in Part 1 and Part 2, there is a disproportionate impact of CKD on Black persons. Individuals need to have CKD identified and diagnosed as early as possible in the disease process to attain desired health outcomes. This successful management of CKD and its complications requires an awareness and understanding of the diagnosis. Without awareness, patients are unlikely to become informed and adequately participate in their care and become motivated to adopt healthy behaviors.
Part 5: STRATEGIES to improve pharmacoequity in Black persons with CKD
In Part 5, we will present strategies to overcome the barriers presented in Part 1-4. These strategies include: multidisciplinary team-based care that can provide comprehensive medication management, or CMM; overcoming barriers to access medications; using a shared decision making, patient-centered model of care; and patient / caregiver tools to improve medication use.