App helping kidney disease patients exercise
SuppliedA woman with chronic kidney disease has said a virtual exercise pilot she is taking part in is making it easier for her to walk.
Durham resident Karen Denholm is part of a 12-week scheme for patients with the disease at the Sunderland Royal Hospital.
The pilot is looking at the effectiveness of an app aimed at helping patients exercise and stay fit.
Denholm said people with the disease could sometimes become housebound and the tool had given her more confidence.
The Sunderland pilot, which involves 30 patients, is the first time the app, called Kidney Beam, has been used alongside the support of an online fitness coach in UK hospitals.
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust dietician Aisling Barrett said helping chronic disease patients get fitter could improve their experience of dialysis and help them achieve a better quality of life.
She said early results from the Sunderland pilot were "extremely exciting".
'Pushes you more'
Denholm, who is partially sighted, said the tool had been a massive help to her as she had long struggled with her legs and hips.
The app involves talking to a fitness coach over the phone who then suggests which virtual exercise classes she should take part in.
"The instructions are so clear that even if I was having a bad day and my eyesight wasn't great, I can still hear the instructions and do the class," she said.
She said having the fitness coach and doing online exercises with other people had made it easier to be consistent with exercising.
"It just pushes you a little bit more," she said.
She said she had used the tool for about seven weeks now and she could walk around Durham now without walking poles for about an hour.
"I'm building up my strength and hope in the future to challenge myself again with a few hikes," she said.
The pilot's full results are due in May.
