Incorporating digital platforms into nutritional care in chronic kidney disease.

Abstract

Digital health is increasingly recognized for its value to enhance patient care and clinical care processes. People with chronic kidney disease often find dietary self-management challenging. There is promising evidence that digital health interventions can support people with chronic kidney disease to self-manage their diet, by providing more frequent access to nutritional information and dietitians and by facilitating regular monitoring and feedback. There is some emerging evidence of the impact of digital interventions in chronic kidney disease; however, more research is needed to provide meaningful interpretation of how digital interventions can enhance current practice. Importantly, a number of factors need to be considered when designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating the impact of digital interventions. Consideration of the nutrition service and patients' needs, motivation and digital literacy, type of digital intervention, and the ability to embed the digital intervention into current care processes are critical. This paper overviews the current literature on digital health and self-management, factors to consider when embedding digital interventions and platforms into nutrition care and practical considerations for designing and implementing digital health interventions to enhance the nutritional care of people with chronic kidney disease.