KEOP Screenings

Raleigh, NC: Legislative Event | 4 March 2009

Over the past two years, I have been on several screenings with the UNC Kidney Center's Kidney Education Outreach Program (KEOP) throughout the state. I have traveled to small towns, busy cities, baseball games, and beautiful countryside. Frequently the screenings have been held at community-based church health fairs, gatherings or other small, local events. This March, however, we experienced a very different change of pace as we headed to downtown Raleigh to offer free CKD screenings at the Legislative Office Building. In addition to providing screenings, we were raising awareness among members and staff of the NC General Assembly about the need for additional funds to continue the KEOP's targeted screening and educational efforts in rural counties with high prevalence rates of CKD.

The day began with TV interviews with representatives from the Kidney Center and the Legislature, and then we began to screen in the main atrium right outside a large conference room. We screened 55 members of the legislature and their staff as they passed by on their way to meetings and had conversations about the risk factors for kidney disease.

A few lawmakers, particularly those representing NC counties with high prevalence rates of kidney disease, asked us what they can do to achieve improved kidney health for their constituents. Moments like that gave me hope that the benefits of this single screening event could potentially help extend CKD awareness and prevention across the entire state.

Bradley Layton

posted by UNC Kidney Center at 9:26 AM