Creative Activities for Dialysis Patients During Treatment Sessions
In-center dialysis patients typically spend three to five hours in treatment sessions, three times per week. During this time, safe, in-chair creative engagement, including culturally relevant coloring, can reduce boredom, support emotional regulation, and improve treatment day experience for patients who might otherwise spend that time in passive anxiety or disengagement.
You come in three times a week. You sit. The machine runs. Time moves the way it moves when you have nowhere to go and nothing you can do about it. Dialysis is not a crisis, most days. It is something slower: the particular weight of time that does not belong to you, given over to a machine that keeps you alive. Coloring is not a solution to kidney disease. It is a way to make three hours feel like yours again.
Time given over to a machine can still hold something worth doing.
— Coloring Kinfolk
Why Clinics Are Looking at In-Chair Creative Engagement
Dialysis social workers and clinic managers know the connection between psychosocial wellbeing and treatment adherence. Patients who feel better during treatment are more likely to return. Patients who feel engaged, calm, and connected to something meaningful are measurably different from patients who feel warehoused.
Art-based engagement during medical treatment has research support in oncology settings and is increasingly being examined in dialysis contexts. The mechanism is straightforward: focused creative activity shifts attention from the treatment to something chosen, which reduces perceived duration and anxiety. Coloring Kinfolk’s scene-based pages add a layer that generic coloring materials cannot: cultural resonance. A patient who picks up a page of a Sunday Dinner table is not just coloring. She is somewhere she recognizes.
What a Dialysis Clinic Pilot Looks Like
A pilot does not require a large commitment. It requires pages, a table, and permission.
- Place coloring pages and colored pencils at stations before patients arrive. Make the activity optional and visible.
- Note which patients engage, for how long, and what they say about the session.
- After four weeks, assess whether session atmosphere shifted, whether any patients requested the activity again, and whether family members who accompany patients showed interest.
- Request a sample set through the Activity Director Resource Guide or contact cousin@coloringkinfolk.com directly.
Resources on This Hub
- Activity Director Resource Guide — programming frameworks for care settings, including dialysis and clinical environments.
- Free sample coloring pages — download and test with one patient before committing to a license.
- Institutional licensing — single-facility $197, multi-facility $497, with facility-wide print rights.
Related Reading
- Memory Care Coloring Resources for Facilities and Families
- Activity Director Resources for Culturally Relevant Senior Programming
- Culturally Relevant Senior Activities for Black American Elders
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Coloring Materials Safe for Dialysis Patients?
Standard coloring pencils and pages are generally safe for in-chair use during dialysis. There are no needles, liquids, or equipment interactions to consider. Coloring Kinfolk pages are printable PDFs, so clinics can produce fresh copies for each patient and discard after use per infection control protocols.
Can Black American Patients Benefit Specifically From Culturally Specific Coloring Pages?
Yes. Black American patients make up a disproportionate share of the in-center dialysis population. Culturally specific activity materials, particularly those rooted in Black American life, provide a more meaningful engagement experience than generic materials for this patient group.
Does Coloring Kinfolk Offer Clinic Licensing?
Yes. Institutional licensing starts at $197 for a single facility and includes print rights and activity materials. Contact cousin@coloringkinfolk.com for clinic-specific pricing conversations.
What If Patients Do Not Want to Color?
Coloring should always be optional. Patients who do not want to color may still benefit from having pages visible, or from watching a family member color during their session. The goal is to make a meaningful activity available, not to require participation.
Request a dialysis clinic sample set. Four weeks, a few pages, no overhead. See what shifts.
Time given over to a machine can still hold something worth doing.
