Kidney Essentials
Digital Companion for CKD & AKI — Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
A multi-language digital companion helping NHS patients understand and manage chronic kidney disease.
Over 7 million people in the UK live with chronic kidney disease, yet the standard patient education is a printed leaflet. Low health literacy in CKD is directly linked to worse outcomes — more hospitalisations, faster disease progression. Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust wanted to fundamentally redesign how they educated patients.
Cognitant developed Kidney Essentials: an interactive, avatar-led programme that helps patients understand their diagnosis, disease stage, and how to manage their kidney health. The platform was culturally adapted with translations into Polish, Nepali, Punjabi and Urdu, and features culturally appropriate avatars and region-specific content like dietary advice.
As creative director, I worked with medical writers, patient advocacy groups, designers and animators. I storyboarded the complete experience and directed the team through production — from initial co-creation workshops through to the final animated resource.
The results were striking: 96% of patients reported increased CKD knowledge, face-to-face follow-ups dropped by 66%, and clinic waiting times fell from seven weeks to four. The programme has since been adopted across multiple NHS trusts and is now supported by Kidney Research UK, with investment to scale it to support over 15 million people living with long-term conditions.
