Effective Patient Education Strategies for Lowering Phosphorus in CKD.

A recent literature review that explored the challenges and solutions in educating patients with CKD to lower serum phosphorus while avoiding protein insufficiency and hypercalcemia found that emerging educational initiatives include food labeling using a "traffic light" scheme, motivational interviewing techniques, and the Phosphate Education Program – whereby patients no longer have to memorize the phosphorus content of each individual food component, but only a "phosphorus unit" value for a limited number of food groups. ThePatient Preference and Adherence review also found that phosphorus binders provide several advantages to patients, including prolonged survival and more flexibility than dietary restrictions.