AUTHOR: Lauren Quinn
URBANA, IL. — For people whose kidneys are not functioning properly, hemodialysis is a life-saving process. Patients visit dialysis centers several times a week, connecting to machines that filter impurities and excess fluid from their blood. Between sessions, dietary choices—particularly sodium intake—determine the amount of fluid patients retain, which affects weight gain and overall quality of life. And the more fluid that needs to be withdrawn, the more difficult the dialysis session.
Even with the best of intentions, choosing low-sodium foods isn’t always easy. That’s why researchers from the Department of Nutritional Sciences (DNS) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign created a virtual reality program to educate dialysis patients from the comfort of their treatment chairs. The project was funded through the Kidney Wellness Institute of Illinois at the Discovery Partners Institute, part of the University of Illinois system.
“I can go to a clinic and tell patients how to cook and how to shop, but with our VR program, they will be able to perceive the information in a different way and maybe retain it better. We take them into the kitchen and into the grocery store while they’re in the chair and undergoing dialysis,” said Caitlin Pavelczyk, a graduate student at DNS, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the U. of I .
Pawelczyk added that dialysis patients are strapped to their treatment chairs for hours, several days each week. “Virtual reality offers the advantage of allowing patients to escape the walls of the clinic.”
The virtual reality program, filmed in the Department of Health and Kinesiology’s Metabolic Kitchen and the aisles of the Champaign Harvest Market, is being piloted to see how well dialysis patients in Champaign County respond to the material. If successful, the program will be re-filmed with professional actors and cameramen, with parts translated into Spanish, before a wider release.
“Educating people how to reduce salt in their diet really revolves around growing, shopping and cooking, rather than going out to eat,” said Ken Willund, director of the University of Arizona’s School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness and leader of the project. which he started as a faculty member at DNS.
“Even when you decide to buy groceries instead of eating out, you have to learn how to shop. I did several grocery shopping tours with several participants in our research studies, and it was a bit alarming to see the kinds of food choices they were making. It became clear to me that many people do not have a good understanding of how to identify the healthier unprocessed foods when they are in the grocery store,” Willund added. “In many cases, they may as well have gone to a fast food restaurant.”
That’s why the VR program takes patients on a walking tour of Harvest Market, encouraging them to buy most of their groceries on the periphery of the store, a concept known as “perimeter shopping.” Most grocery stores place the healthiest, least processed, and lowest sodium foods around the walls of the store, in the produce section, meat and seafood aisles, and dairy section. Middle aisles, on the other hand, are loaded with more processed, high-sodium goods.
The program also takes place in a home kitchen, where Pawelczyk demonstrates tips and tricks for preparing still-flavorful food with less salt. “For example, we recommend boiling eggs without adding salt until it’s time to serve. When you just put a little salt on top, you tend to use less but taste it more.
The team hopes the VR program’s interactive experiences, where patients can pick up products, view food labels and play games, will make a lasting impression.
“We hope to incorporate this as part of a comprehensive nutrition education program that offers training in growing, shopping and cooking food. In addition to our shopping tour and virtual cooking classes, we want to host live cooking classes and develop gardens outside dialysis clinics where patients can come and pick herbs to take home for to season their foods with low sodium,” Willund said.
