Resources
Need extra support or guidance?
Here you will find helpful links, resources and websites from organisations and foundations that offer additional support.
In a medical emergency, call your local emergency number (112 in Europe) or go to your nearest emergency department. If it is urgent but not an emergency, contact your care team or your national health advice line.
If you are feeling emotionally overwhelmed and would like to talk to someone, please reach out to your care team or a local confidential listening service.
FAQ
About Renally
Renally is a free programme that connects people who are new to dialysis, approaching it, or already on dialysis with mentors who have been on dialysis themselves. You talk one-to-one, by video, in your browser. Your care team looks after your health and coordinates your treatment. Renally is here to help you feel supported, manage your daily routine, and navigate life between clinic visits.
Renally is for people who are new to dialysis, approaching it, or already on dialysis. You can also use Renally if you are caring for someone on dialysis. Renally is currently available in Portugal, Switzerland and Singapore.
Yes. Renally is free to use, and there are no paid features on the platform. Mentors are unpaid volunteers who are wanting to support others and pass on their experiences.
No. Your care team looks after your health and coordinates your treatment. Renally is for everyday life on dialysis. It is not medical and it is not professional psychological support.
Renally is powered by Supportal Health.
A mentor is someone who has experience and gives support, guidance, and knowledge of what they have lived to other people. A Renally mentor is someone who has been on dialysis themselves and talks one-to-one with people going through it now. They are not clinicians and they do not give medical advice. What they offer is their own experience of what dialysis is actually like, and how they handled it.
A conversation is a one-to-one video call with a mentor, using the Renally platform in your browser. Those conversations could also be called sessions.
For people looking to talk to someone
Renally mentors are volunteers who have been on, or are going through dialysis themselves. Every Renally mentor has lived experience of dialysis. People who have since had a transplant can mentor too. Mentors hold no clinical role. What they bring is their own experience of living with dialysis, kidney disease, or after a transplant.
Every Renally mentor is screened to assess their suitability for mentoring, and they complete guidance before joining. The guidance sets out what a mentor should and should not do, including boundaries and the escalation process. So long as mentors successfully complete the screening and guidance, the only qualification they need is lived experience.
No. Renally mentors will not give you medical advice, and they will not tell you what to do. They share what it was like for them, knowing that each experience and each person is unique.
You choose what you talk about. For example, what the tiredness is actually like, whether you can keep working or studying, or how to talk to your family about dialysis.
No. You are free to choose who you talk to, and how often you talk. You can book multiple sessions with the same mentor, or with different mentors. It's completely up to you.
Look through the list of mentors and read their profiles. You can filter the list by mentor location, age, gender and support area; including pre-dialysis, in-center hemodialysis, home hemodialysis, and peritoneal dialysis. You can also filter by subjects such as travel, diet, work and study.
Create your account, choose a mentor and pick an available timeslot that works for you. Mentors set their own availability, so the times you see are times they are free. Booking only takes a few clicks. Once the session is booked, you'll receive an automatic confirmation email with the link to join your conversation. You will also receive a reminder email 30 minutes before the session starts, with the same join link.
You can cancel on the platform, or using the link sent in the session confirmation email. If you need to cancel a session, you can leave an optional note for the mentor.
Yes. If you can't attend a session, cancel it and re-book with the same mentor using their available times. To request a specific date and time, you can leave a note when you cancel. Mentors set their own availability, so they may not always be able to meet your request.
If a mentor has to cancel a session that you booked, you will receive a notification via email. You can book another time with the same mentor, or choose someone else.
Renally conversations are one-to-one by video, in your browser. Each conversation has its own secure link that only works with your login.
No. Renally conversations are never recorded or monitored, and there are no AI note-takers. What you share with your mentor stays between you.
Nothing goes into your medical record. Your conversation stays private. Nothing is shared.
Yes. You can stop whenever you want.
You can report a concern from within a Renally session using the 'Report a concern' button. Reported concerns are sent to the programme team so they can provide additional support.
For mentors
Anyone who has been on dialysis themselves can become a Renally mentor, including people who have since had a transplant. Your experience is the only qualification you need.
You will answer a few questions about yourself and your lived experience with dialysis, then complete quick guidance modules. You can then create your account, set up your profile, set your availability, and start mentoring when someone books a session with you.
You choose which days and times you are free and willing to mentor someone. People can only book your available slots. There is no minimum commitment, and you can change your availability whenever you want.
Yes. Renally mentors set their own availability, so you decide which days and times you are free. People can only book your available slots, and you can change or remove your availability whenever you want.
No. You cannot give medical advice, or give advice out of the scope of your own lived experience; remember everyone is different. You may be asked what dialysis was like for you, and how you managed different situations.
You choose what you talk about. Nobody expects you to go back over the hardest parts. You can end a session that is not working. Anything outside your own experience goes to the programme team, and the guidance modules cover these situations before you start.
No. Renally mentors are never assigned. People looking to talk to someone will read the mentors profiles and choose who they want to talk to, so what you write about your own dialysis experience is what helps them decide.
Yes. You can cancel on the platform, or using the link sent in the session confirmation email. If you need to cancel a session, you can leave an optional note suggesting another time. The person can then re-book with you from your available times. You set your own availability, so remember to keep it up to date.
Renally mentors are unpaid volunteers, not employees or contractors. They willingly choose to support others facing a similar diagnosis or treatment journey by sharing their lived experience. Mentors are never paid by Supportal Health, Fresenius Medical Care, or any other third party involved.
For family and/or caregivers
Yes, you can. If you are caring for someone on dialysis, you can set up a Renally account and book a conversation with a mentor who has been on dialysis themselves.
Yes. If you have cared for someone on dialysis, you can become a Renally mentor. People choose their own mentor, and your profile will say that your experience is as a carer.
Technical issues/ troubleshooting
Once a session is booked, you'll receive an email with a join link. You will also receive a reminder email 30 minutes before the session starts, with the same join link. You can also join the session from within the platform by navigating to 'Upcoming Sessions' and selecting 'View Session' of the one you want to join, from there click 'Join Session', agree to the disclaimer and answer quick pre-session questions (if applicable) before gaining access to the session room.
If you are not logged in to Renally, the join session link will direct you to the sign in page before it takes you to the session page. If the link does not work, you can sign in manually and join the session from inside the platform. Email renally@supportal.health if the problem persists and someone will help you.
Make sure you are using the correct email address and password. These fields are case-sensitive. Note that you need to verify your email after creating an account. You will be sent a link from Renally with a verification link to follow. If you are still having trouble logging into your account, email renally@supportal.health.
Ensure that you have enabled microphone and camera permissions on your browser. When you join a session, you should receive a pop-up asking you to grant permission for your browser to use your microphone and camera. Make sure you click 'Allow' or 'Enable'. If you don't see this pop-up, refresh your browser and it should appear. If you have already allowed microphone and camera permissions and are still having trouble, you can reset your permissions using the icon to the left of the address bar in Chrome or to the right of the address bar in Safari.
You can rejoin the session and pick up where you left off. To avoid dropping off during the call, make sure you have a stable internet connection before you join.
If you can't hear the other person, it's usually because your device volume is low, an unwanted Bluetooth device is connected, or their microphone is muted or blocked. Try these steps in order:
1. Turn up the volume on your device or speakers.
2. Check that no Bluetooth headphones or speakers are connected by mistake, and that the right output device is selected.
3. Ask the other person, using the in-session chat, whether their microphone is unmuted and whether they have allowed microphone permissions in their browser.
4. If they need help, point them to the "Get Help" button in the session, which shows how to enable microphone permissions.
5. If the problem continues, refresh the page or try a different browser.
Still can't hear them? You can raise a concern from within the session or contact renally@supportal.health
When a session is booked, you will receive an automated email from renally@supportal.health with the confirmation and join link. You will also receive a reminder email 30 minutes before the session starts, with the same join link. Always check your spam or junk folder. If you can't find the email, you can check booked sessions within the 'Upcoming Sessions' tab in the platform, and join by selecting 'View Session' for the one you want to join. If you have any problems, you can contact the programme team directly at renally@supportal.health.
You can cancel a session on the platform by navigating to 'Upcoming Sessions', and selecting 'View Session' of the one you want to cancel. You can also cancel a session by using the link sent in the session confirmation email.