Updated 3.19.20
With the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) continuing to rise across the country and the globe, kidney patients, transplant recipients, and living donors may be wondering what steps they can take to be prepared and to try to stay well. We’ve put together a list of resources that you can consult to prepare and stay up to date on the COVID-19 situation. If you have questions, you should reach out to your transplant or dialysis center. Also, many providers are offering virtual or telehealth check-ins to help limit unnecessary potential exposures, so be sure to ask about this option if you are considering a visit to your provider soon.
From all of us at the Transplant Research and Education Center, we wish you good health.
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Transplant and Dialysis-Specific Resources
General Resources
UCLA Health Resources
Resources for Children, Teens, and Families
Resources for Relaxation and Calm
Upcoming Events
Resources for Clinicians and Transplant Centers
Transplant and Dialysis-Specific Resources:
- National Kidney Foundation’s “Be Prepared: Kidney Patient Prep for Coronavirus”
- American Society of Transplantation “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Frequently Asked Questions from Transplant Candidates and Recipients“
- American Society of Transplantation “COVID-19 (Coronavirus) FAQs for Organ Transplantation”
- UNOS “Member information regarding COVID-19”
- CDC guidelines for outpatient hemodialysis centers regarding COVID-19
- Dialysis Patient Citizens Education Center “Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Information for Dialysis Patients”
- Medicare COVID-19 updates, including virtual visits
- National Kidney Registry’s COVID-19 activities
- Which centers are still doing living donor transplants? kidneytransplantcenters.org
General Resources:
- CDC’s official COVID-19 website with information about how to protect yourself and your family, high risk groups, information for caregivers and healthcare providers, and a situation summary
- CDC fact sheets
- CDC COVID-19 Videos
- Kaiser Family Foundation COVID-19 Coronavirus Tracker
- Kaiser Family Foundation Coronavirus topics page
- World Health Organization Coronavirus web page
- Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
- California Department of Public Health
- OSHA
- Social Distancing and Why It’s Important
UCLA Health Resources:
- UCLA Health Coronavirus Website
- Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health and CEO of the UCLA Hospital System, was a featured guest on CNBC’s ‘Squawk on the Street’ with Carl Quintanilla and Michael Santoli.
- UCLA Health’s Johnese Spisso on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’
- UCLA Health offers free guided meditation that you can listen to anytime
- Bruins Safe Online
- Faculty and Staff Counseling Center
- Behavioral Wellness Center
- For UCLA students concerned about symptoms: Ashe Center Infection Control Line (310-206-6217)
Resources for Children, Teens, and Families:
- NPR created a comic that helps parents talk to their kids about the coronavirus
- Psychology Today “How to Talk to Kids and Teens About the Coronavirus”
- Comic created by physicians and the Government of India
- KidsHealth provides information on how to talk to your child, what to do if your child is sick, how to prepare your family, preventing the spread, and social distancing with children
- Covibook, a short book in multiple languages to support and reassure children under the age of 7. Available in multiple languages.
Resources for Relaxation and Calm:
- UCLA Health offers free guided meditation that you can listen to anytime
- CDC’s Managing Stress and Anxiety during COVID-19
Upcoming Events:
The American Association of Kidney Patients is offering at webinar “What Kidney Patients and their Families need to know about Coronavirus” with the CDC on March 18 at 3 p.m. EDT
Resources for Clinicians & Transplant Centers:
- The Transplantation Society “Guidance on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) for Transplant Clinicians“
- American Society of Transplantation “COVID-19 (Coronavirus) FAQs for Organ Transplantation”
- AJT publication “Coronavirus Disease 2019: Implications of Emerging Infections for Transplantation“
- Education from X-Plain Patient Education to give out in multiple languages
- UCLA Health Coronavirus Website
- Implementing Psychological First Aid for use in disaster situations with your patients–see the free evidence-based app provided by the VA
- OSHA
- Which centers are still doing living donor transplants? kidneytransplantcenters.org
*Image Credit: Alissa Eckert, MS, Dan Higgins, MAMS from CDC Public Health Image Library