The effect of holiday haemodialysis treatments on patient mood, adverse symptoms and subjective wellbeing using the Big Red Kidney Bus

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: People with end-stage kidney disease receiving haemodialysis are restricted to holidays where dialysis services are readily available. Holiday dialysis in regional, rural and remote areas is particularly challenging. The aims of this study were to (1) evaluate the wellbeing of those who received dialysis in a holiday haemodialysis bus, and (2) to measure patient wellbeing with that of a comparable cohort of haemodialysis patients. METHODS: A three machine haemodialysis bus, the Big Red Kidney Bus, was built to enable people, their families and carers to take holidays across a range of tourist destinations in Victoria, Australia. Measures included pre-post subjective wellbeing, dialysis symptoms and mood questionnaires complemented by post semi-structured telephone interviews. RESULTS: Participating holidaymakers were positive about the haemodialysis bus service and the standard of care experienced. They reported decreased dialysis side effects of fatigue, muscle cramp, and dry skin. The overall number of reported symptoms decreased and the perceived level of bother associated with symptoms also decreased. No changes in subjective wellbeing and mood were detected. Mean Personal Wellbeing Index scores were significantly higher than in a comparative haemodialysis sample. CONCLUSION: The Big Red Kidney Bus provided a safe and feasible holiday dialysis service. Holidaymakers' wellbeing was reflected by the decreased dialysis patient side effects.

School-based subjective wellbeing intervention for adolescents

A six week school-based Cognitive-Behavioural intervention for year 8 students was found to significantly improve subjective wellbeing, with those initially scoring the lowest showing greatest change. This study was enhanced by the use of weekly diaries which offered novel insight into the intervention effects over the duration of the program.

The Subjective wellbeing of Malaysians

This thesis compared the subjective wellbeing Malaysians in Malaysia, Malaysians in Australia and Australians. Results highlight the importance of establishing the comparability of scales between countries to eliminate the possibility of response style contaminating comparison analyses. With response style contamination eliminated, the differences in Subjective Wellbeing across cultures are small.