What did we do?

We interviewed staff and people living with haemodialysis in groups and individually to find out what encourages (and prevents) them from taking part in (or supporting) exercise delivered during haemodialysis (also known as intradialytic exercise or IDE). We interviewed participants before the exercise programme was introduced, and then six months later to see if their perceptions had changed.

What we found and what does it mean?

Starting IDE is helped by addressing the pre-existing beliefs about exercise through the influence of peers (for patients) and training (for staff). Participation is sustained by seeing the benefits of exercising (for patients and staff) and through teamwork and collaboration (for staff).  High workloads were the biggest barriers to IDE and need to be addressed through specific guidance that includes recommendations on staffing levels, roles, training and skill mix.

Progress

We used this information to help design and refine our intradialytic exercise programme. After conducting a small study (see details here) to see how this could run in practice, We have now tested how effective the intradialytic exercise programme is in improving heart health in a much larger clinical trial.

Evidence

Results from the QHD study can be viewed in this open access article.