Dialysis is most frequently used for patients who have kidney failure until a kidney transplant could be done. To improve volunteer’s knowledge on kidney failure disease and treatment, a training session had been conducted at the Singapore Tzu Chi Free Clinic on May 24th for volunteers involved in the Dialysis Assistance Programme. Caption:Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA) volunteer Dr. Yeoh Lee Ying explaining to the participants on issues pertaining to kidney organ and dialysis treatment.

Volunteers performing to a skit depicting how dialysis patients confront with the disease and how Tzu Chi volunteer help with their empathy.

NUH dietitian Ms. Chow Pek Yee tells about the best diet and nutrition for dialysis patient.

CEO Mr. David Liu urges the volunteers to not forget to empathize with the patients.

The content of the programme was designed to include basic knowledge on kidney failure disease, its treatment process, nutrition needed by patients as well as Tzu Chi’s humanistic values required while doing home visits. Main purpose of the training is to help all 75 participants to be fully equipped before proceeding to the actual case.

“Charity work and home visit are the basic undertakings for every Tzu Chi volunteer.” Such is the ardent advice of Tzu Chi founder Master Cheng Yen to her lay disciples. Starting February 2005, Tzu Chi Singapore launched its charitable initiative in its Dialysis Assistance Programme. A total of 184 families have benefitted financially from the programme for the past four years. Meanwhile, the assistance programme had also grown into the community whereby personal visits to patients’ homes are carried out every month.

Lending a hand in the waiting period

For low-income dialysis patients, it is a harsh reality when they were diagnosed to have kidney failure. While waiting for assistance application with Voluntary Welfare Organization (VWO)　to be approved, patients often have to bear the dialysis expenses which can go as high as $2000 per month.

The main objective of Tzu Chi in launching the Dialysis Assistance Programme is to provide financial aid to dialysis patients to ease up their waiting period. Aside from local citizens, the programme is also opened to needy foreigners with Permanent Resident status.

For long-term assistance cases, home visit volunteers and TIMA members make effort to conduct monthly visits to the patients’ homes. They too provide information on health care and medical treatment for their conditions.  In doing so, they look after not only the patients’ physical health, but of their mind and soul as well.

While paying home visits, the volunteers might face problems in dealing with patient’s unstable emotion. Before going to the emotional part, the training programme first introduced Alexander Hospital Renal Consultant Dr. Yeoh Lee Ying to inculcate in the participants knowledge of kidney function, the different dialysis methods and medicinal prescription for dialysis patient. Dr. Yeoh also invited National University Hospital renal dietitian Ms. Chow Pek Yee to share on the importance of nutrition for dialysis patient.

Case Analysis

Under the home visit skill application segment, Sister Ng Enting, a pediatric renal nurse from National University Hospital, specially directed a skit adapted from a case in Malaysia. The story depicted a dialysis patient’s emotional trauma from hesitation to helplessness to the point of giving up herself trying to commit suicide. After the skit, the congregation had a Q&A session to discuss on dialysis case handling and clear doubts.

Dr. Yeoh remarked that the aim of organizing the training is to gather all volunteers to improve their collective knowledge on kidney failure disease and dialysis treatment methods. This enables the volunteers to gain insight into the physical and emotional difficulties faced by the dialysis patients.

Towards the end of the programme, CEO of Tzu Chi Singapore Mr. David Liu, who also attended the training alongside the volunteers, urged the participants to not forget to empathize with the patients. Treat them like your own family member, he said.

“Yes, we would sympathize with the less fortunate naturally but to really put ourselves in their shoes is more challenging. We should manipulate both skills and close-to-the-heart care to guide the patients out from their sufferings, just like the saying: ‘Compassion and wisdom should go in tandem’.” Mr. Liu also wished all volunteers could translate the knowledge they learned into greater wisdom and implement Master Cheng Yen’s teachings when they are out in the field doing home visits.