• Center on Health Equity & Access
  • Clinical
  • Health Care Cost
  • Health Care Delivery
  • Insurance
  • Policy
  • Technology
  • Value-Based Care

Dr Danielle Kirkman on the Integration of Exercise Into the CKD Care Plan

Video

Including an exercise physiologist or physical therapist on a multidisciplinary nephrology care team can make it easier to include exercise as part of routine care for chronic kidney disease (CKD), said Danielle Kirkman, PhD, assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Including an exercise physiologist or physical therapist on a multidisciplinary nephrology care team can make it easier to include exercise as part of routine care for chronic kidney disease (CKD), said Danielle Kirkman, PhD, assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Transcript

How can a nephrology care team integrate exercise into the care plan for CKD?

It’s well established that the nephrology care team is very multidisciplinary; we have dieticians, we have social workers involved, we have pharmacists, we have the attending nephrologist. One thing that does seem to be missing in this multidisciplinary team is an exercise physiologist or a physical therapist [PT], so there’s certainly a role for that position within the multidisciplinary team.

It’s been reported previously that one of the barriers to actually implementing exercise into routine care is that the care team doesn’t feel very confident on how to prescribe exercise. If we did have an exercise physiologist or a PT within that team, patients could be referred on to the specialist to provide very individualized exercise prescription.

Related Videos
Khush Kharidia, MD
Kimberly Westrich, MA, chief strategy officer, National Pharmaceutical Council
Harry Travis, BS Pharm, MBA, president at The Travis Group, LLC
 Brigid Groves, PharmD, MS, vice president, professional affairs, American Pharmacists Association
Chelsea Renfro, PharmD, research and engagement pharmacist, Vanderbilt Specialty Pharmacy
Chicago skyline with words "CHEST 2025 Recap Chicago, Illinois" | Image credit: SeanPavonePhoto - stock.adobe.com
Screenshot of an interview with Kristina Crothers, MD
James Simon, MD – Image credit: AJMC
Brooke Aggarwal, EdD – screenshot by AJMC
JoAnn Pinkerton, MD
Related Content
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences
AJMC®
All rights reserved.