Held on 3/5 for the first time in person since the start of the pandemic, this year’s conference took place in Rome, Italy, with the participation of patient associations, medical professionals, academic professors, Diaverum executives and d.HOLIDAY coordinators from around the world.
Together, these holiday dialysis experts presented, discussed and engaged in workshops that covered critical topics in empowering renal patients to live out their dreams of travel once again, in a post-pandemic world.
Michaela Blomstrand, Director of Patient Experience and Community Affairs, who leads on the global d.HOLIDAY programme, said: “This face-to-face conference has been long due. Chronic disease patients' dreams of travel – whether a short trip, or an exotic, overseas adventure – come from a basic, human need to move freely, which has been significantly impacted by COVID-19. This conference therefore had a clear objective of amplifying the conversation around dialysis patient mobility, reaffirming our commitment to life-enhancing renal care and, through industry-wide collaboration, finding innovative solutions to new challenges that have emerged on the back of the global pandemic.”
For that reason, Diaverum used the conference as a platform to announce publicly two of its latest developments and innovations in holiday dialysis. Our new d.HOLIDAY booking platform – which is making the travel booking process simpler, quicker and easier for CKD patients – and an exciting hotel dialysis project being piloted in Italy.
Maria Chiara Durio, country managing director for Italy, commented on the significance of hosting the 2022 conference and its groundbreaking hotel dialysis pilot: “With Italy being one of the top five d.HOLIDAY destinations, hosting this year’s conference in Rome was a fantastic opportunity for us to present how we are innovating to make holiday dialysis more accessible and therefore welcome even more renal patients who want to spend their holiday in our country.”
In partnership with the University of Bari, Diaverum Italy is piloting a new d.HOLIDAY offering – dialysis hotels. The objective is to offer renal patients the possibility of booking dialysis treatment at hotels where they can spend their holiday. The pilot is running at the Hotel LeSirene, in Puglia, where patients will be able receive their treatments onsite, in a fully equipped dialysis room facing the sea and a dedicated nurse available for care assistance. Chiara continues: “This means these patients can fully enjoy their holidays with their families without having to commute to an external clinic.”
The agenda of the conference can be found here. The d.HOLIDAY Conference will be back in 2023 in another d.HOLIDAY travel destination, with the ambition of bringing even more holiday dialysis experts face-to-face, working together to help more renal patients all over the world to live fulfilling lives.
What participants have to say
Participants from different parts of the world have shared their views of the event, its significance and how they will take home input from the conference to strengthen their own holiday dialysis programmes.
“It was a pleasure to attend Diaverum’s d.HOLIDAY Conference in Rome. I was so happy to be again at this meeting, because I have been participating in it since the first event in Barcelona. Diaverum is a company whose focus is on the HD patient. It is really nice to see how a large corporation is able to take into consideration small details, specially when we are talking about such a critical subject as it is with travelling and going on vacation with kidney disease, which provides higher quality life to the HD patient. Thanks a lot for keeping the patient front of mind.”
Antonio Tombas
ADER President
“The conference was extremely relevant for each participating country as we were able to exchange knowledge and best practices. Nevertheless, for Brazil and its maturing dialysis market, it was especially important. We were able to learn from others regarding the main benefits and drawbacks to renal patients going on holiday dialysis in a post-pandemic world. Brazil is a huge market with more than 150,000 thousand dialysis patients, of which 18% are privately insured – this represents an enormous potential to empower renal patients to travel worldwide as well as to become one of top holiday dialysis country destinations together with Spain, Portugal, Romania and Italy.”
Rafael Ferreira
Business & communications manager and d.HOLIDAY coordinator
Diaverum Brazil
“This year, the d.HOLIDAY conference was a great opportunity for me and Diaverum France for different reasons. First, I was finally able to meet my peers, d.HOLIDAY coordinators from all over the world, as well as patient associations. This strengthens our network and allows us to be more efficient in responding to patient requests in the future. But it was also a time to learn more about the patient perspective regarding travel when having kidney disease. All the presentations were really insightful, and I particularly liked the intervention of Antonio Tombas, and the panel discussion run by Kirsty Bashforth with Filipe, Monica and Colin.”
Fanny Tilliez
Communications specialist and d.HOLIDAY coordinator
Diaverum France
