19+ Gift Ideas for Dialysis Patients {Dietitian-Recommended}

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Do you have someone in your life that is also a dialysis patient? Whether they’ve been on dialysis for a day or over a year, chances are there are a few gift ideas they could use while in dialysis treatment. As a renal dietitian that has worked several years in different dialysis clinics, I’ve learned a lot from my experienced dialysis patients. The things they tell me they can’t live without are passed on to my new dialysis patients or encouraged to family to give as a gift to their loved ones. This article will include a list of gift ideas for dialysis patients from a renal dietitian’s experience and perspective. Treat your dialysis patient, whether it’s a loved one or yourself, to a thoughtful gift and make dialysis treatments and life a little easier and a lot comfier.

This list contains affiliate links in which I may receive a small percentage of a sale. It in no way affects the cost for you, nor your shopping experience. I only provide affiliate links for items I, myself, or my patient use or recommend. Thank you for your support and happy shopping!

Comfortable Dialysis Treatments

Here are gift ideas for dialysis patients to make their treatments more enjoyable.

Dialysis Clothing

If you’ve ever been to a dialysis clinic, you may realize one thing right away. It’s cold. And to imagine sitting on a vinyl-covered chair for 4+ hours without being able to get up or move much… let’s just say it can be rough. I feel especially for those who get the chairs right under the vents. 🥶

While it would be wonderful to bundle up tightly with layers and layers, a dialysis patient must keep their access site (on their arm, clavicle, or sometimes groin) visible for the entire treatment.

This is to ensure safety so the dialysis nurse and technician can monitor the patient’s dialysis site. Luckily, there are companies now that make sweatshirts that have access to dialysis ports.

This one comes in sizes S-3XL and has a 4.5-star rating with over 1,000 reviews.

A gift like this shows thoughtfulness in something that is extremely useful- they’ll use it for at least 12 hours each week, likely year-round!

A Warm, Soft Blanket

Ask them about their dialysis clinic and the first description that probably comes to mind is IT IS SO COLD!! Part of dialysis even includes a lower temperature setting, so pretty much everyone is wrapped up in at least one blanket.

Help make sure they’re comfy for their 4-hour treatment with a nice blanket that will remind them of your love.

This blanket has 4.6-star rating with over 60,000 reviews!

Even though it is freezing in there, please don’t get them a heated blanket. Dialysis centers usually will not allow items that need to be plugged into an outlet. It can also be a fire hazard.

Comfy Neck Pillow

Dialysis amenities typically include a personal television with access to TV stations- there’s not a lot someone can do for 4 hours while glued to a chair. It’s easy to strain your neck when looking up at the TV screen or even to just be comfortable while trying to take a nap.

A great gift for dialysis patients is a nice a neck pillow so they can lay back and enjoy the show without straining their neck while watching TV or sneaking in a good nap.

Genius Tablet/Smartphone Holder

Dialysis patients may also be warned to straighten their arm during treatment to prevent kinks in the blood flow. Therefore, this is a great solution.

I first saw one of my patients coming into the clinic with this one already strapped around their neck. He may have fallen asleep a few times while watching his fave shows.. 😉

Speaking of technology, this is a great gadget to help them hold up their smartphone or tablet without straining their arms. I know my arms would get tired after holding up my tablet for a while!

Warm Hands and Toes

Did I mention how cold it is? With dialysis, patients have to keep their access arm visible so nurses can always see their access site safe and working properly.

Hands get cold fast, so treat them to some fun and cute mittens or hand warmers. I love these adorable avocado hand warmers.

(Why mittens? When the fingers are together, and not separated like gloves, they can keep each other warmer!) This one is both gloves and mittens, sure to keep their fingers toasty warm!

Don’t forget that tootsies 👣 get cold, too! Some nice warm socks for men or women can be a wonderful gift.

Marathon-Worthy Entertainment

Dialysis treatments are long. So some entertainment is essential during that time. Yes, most clinics will have a TV for each chair/station. But what if there’s nothing interesting to watch?

There are a lot of subscription services you could look into, but I highly recommend something that provides more than just some movies or TV shows.

With Amazon Prime, they’ll get access to a ton of movies, TV shows, books, and music to keep them busy for their treatment time. Clinics will usually have WiFi for patient access so no need to worry about connectivity either.

Tablet

If they’re looking for a new tablet or way to enjoy that subscription, Amazon has great deals on their tablets (especially on Black Friday and Cyber Monday)!

Bonus tip: Customize it for them ahead of time by downloading their favorite apps and games onto the tablet, and add some pictures of friends and family to make it even more special.

Noise-Cancelling Headphones

Dialysis clinics can get noisy. Beeping machines, neighbors loudly chatting to each other or on their phones, snoring, and staff moving patient-to-patient.

Ear buds won’t make the cut to tune out the noise (and they get quite uncomfortable after a while), which means turning up the volume to uncomfortable levels. And they can feel a little uncomfortable after a while, can’t they?

Some luxurious headphones make a wonderful gift for dialysis patients that will allow them to drown out the noise and let them enjoy their entertainment or maybe sneak in a much-needed nap!

“I Wish I Had One” Portable Device Charger

When using their phone, tablet, or other electronic device for 12+ hours a week just on dialysis, they’re bound to get a low battery.

Not all clinics will have an outlet available at the dialysis chair, so don’t let them be dependent on that chance.

I like a flat portable charger (instead of the round ones) so it won’t roll away when you pull it out. This one has a 4.6-star rating with over 37,000 reviews. Many reviews comment on the fast-charging and convenience for a variety of devices.

Overnight Roller Bag

When we talk about all these things, what are they carrying it in?? Their dialysis clinic may provide them with a nice tote bag, but that will easily be filled. Plus, they need to lug in on their shoulders to- and from dialysis.

May not sound bad, but imagine the hassle while juggling everything else, plus the potential strain around their dialysis access.

By having a nice roller bag, they’ll easily be able to pack everything away and pull this alongside them. And they’ll still be able to use it for their traveling as well.

If you’re looking for one gift for dialysis patients that truly stands out – this is it. Incredibly thoughtful and incredibly useful.

For The Kitchen

Here are gift ideas for dialysis patients to make their home life a little easier.

Multi-Cooker

Dialysis patients require treatments that take about 4 hours at a time, three days a week. Not only that, but dialysis patients have multiple appointments to go to with different doctors, transplant workup, etc. Dialysis is basically a full-time job.

A slow cooker is one of my top recommended tools to gift ideas for dialysis patients because they can throw food in the pot, set it on low for 6-8 hours, and come home to a hot meal. They’ll also have several leftovers ready for upcoming days.

While the slow cooker does help prep before a meal, the pressure cooker can help people make up for the lost time when they get home and only have 30 minutes to cook up some healthy high-protein meal.

My favorite small appliance? The classic Instant Pot. Another benefit of the Instant Pot is that it also has a slow cooker feature and even an air fryer lid to help save kitchen space with the number of small appliances you need!

Want to add in a free bonus gift for dialysis patients to tie in with the multi-cooker? Here’s a link to a ton of dialysis-friendly slow cooker recipes for you to check out as well.

Blender

One of the big parts of a dialysis diet is PROTEIN. And keeping in tune with the “they-don’t-have-much-time-to-cook” theme, a blender can help them create a fast protein shake to take along to an appointment.

Often times appetites can be low or downright gone, which makes protein shakes very helpful to get them the protein their body needs without overwhelming their stomach.

Warm afternoons can also call for a refreshing smoothie to provide a boost of energy with nutrient-rich fruits and veggies! Soups can be blended up for a smooth, velvety texture. And if they enjoy plant-based milk, it’s easy to whip up a quick almond or oat milk in the right blender.

This is the blender in my kitchen that has made appearances on Instagram and Facebook.

RD-Approved Protein Supplement

Protein is a very important nutrient for dialysis patients. I always spoke with my dialysis patients about sneaking extra protein to help them with energy levels and better dialysis treatments.

Ask them what brands they like and get them a special package of their favorite protein supplements. If they don’t know what they like, get them a variety pack. It’s a great way to let them sample different flavors and figure out what is good- plus it prevents flavor boredom.

Recommended Protein Supplements

Here’s a few great bars and powders that I love to recommend. I typically recommend bars over powders as most dialysis patients have a fluid restriction, which would include protein shakes.

PowerCrunch PRO– light and crispy, similar to KitKats (This is my personal favorite and the ones I got for my grandma to help boost her protein intake)

Built Puff Bars – With a marshmallow, nougat-y like center, these are a great protein bar that is unlike what you’ve probably had before.

Aloha Bars – vegan and delicious!

Zone Perfect – a 12-pack of cinnamon roll flavor, the lesser-known but so delicious flavor.

Barebells – a chewy, soft center with chocolate-coated crispy outside… like a candy bar!

Owyn Protein Shake – dark chocolate, cookies & cream, and cold brew coffee flavors- all non-dairy and dialysis-friendly.

Orgain Protein Powder – creamy chocolate fudge and vanilla make for fun smoothie/shake bases.

Body Fortress Whey Powder – cookies n’ creme, yum!

Interested in others? Watch for PHOS-additives! You can also check with the dietitian in their dialysis clinic if you’d like to get some information on bars they recommend locally.

A Kidney-Friendly Cookbook

Is your loved one feeling stuck in a cooking rut? Feeling unsure about the recipes they see, not knowing if they’re kidney-friendly? Give them a pretty cookbook filled with healthy and kidney-friendly recipes. You can find plenty online in our Amazon shop here.

A word of warning: Many people promote “kidney-friendly cookbooks” on Amazon but do not actually have the knowledge or information – these are scams. Be sure to purchase kidney-friendly cookbooks from trusted sources such as renal dietitians and nephrologists.

But if you want to get them something else on this list, save your money and print one for free from DaVita.

Health-Related

Here are some gift ideas for dialysis patients that connect with health goals, such as eating more plants, following their fluid goals, or sticking to their medication regimen.

A Special Water Bottle

Since their kidneys are not able to produce urine to get rid of extra fluids, they likely need to limit their fluids. Find them a nice bottle that helps with tracking their fluid intake.

Check out this awesome customizable water bottle that will give them feedback on how much they’ve drunk. They can set their own fluid goal/limit and watch the bottle tally up each sip. Here’s one that shows exactly how many ounces they’ve had.

Or if they don’t like the technology, a pretty water bottle that is smaller in size helps with limiting intake.

Cute or Fun Pill Holders

You may have see the boatload of medications they have to take. In fact, dialysis patients take an average of 19 pills per day… if not more.

Instead of the ugly ones from the drug stores, try to get a prettier or fun one to make the most of their meds.

There’s the sensible but brightly colored keychain pill holder, the snarky and funny pill holder, or this citrus-inspired pill holder.

My personal choices include this one for my purse and this one for travel.

These are very helpful gifts that can support them – especially if they have ever voiced to you that they want to be better about taking their medications.

Not-So-Annoying Sunrise Alarm Clock

Could you imagine the struggle of waking up at 3am three times a week? Now, I’m an early bird, but that’s a bit early even for me.

Say hello to the most enjoyable and healthy way to wake up with this brightening alarm clock. This alarm clock helps gently wake you up by moving you out of your deepest sleep cycle until you’re able to comfortably wake up on time. Plus the light therapy helps with mood imbalances.

I have this one in my own bedroom to help with daylight savings changes in the fall.

Insightful Activity Tracker

Similar to the blood pressure monitor, this kind of tech toy can have some serious health benefits. As their dietitian, I generally talk about incorporating some healthy exercise into their life.

Sleep can be a common issue with dialysis patients (different schedules, restless legs, and other problems). By using the sleep monitor on the FitBit, it will provide good feedback on the quality of sleep they’re getting, which they can share with their doctor and team!

Using the steps is a great way to track light activity and set goals. Plus you can connect with them if you use FitBit too and set challenges for one other.

Oura has come out in the recent years and does a great job tracking steps and sleep. In fact, it can even monitor your temperature and warn you if it senses you’re going to be sick. It’s helped me a few times by telling me to slow down right before I came down with a cold!

Happy shopping!

Whatever you choose to gift for dialysis patients in your life, know that they will be so grateful for your thoughtfulness. Dialysis can indeed feel like a full-time job without helpful resources to save time. These gifts can be resources when they’re not on dialysis or help the time go by faster and more comfortable when they’re in dialysis treatment.

By giving them a gift like one of these, they’ll know you put in a lot of thought into a gift that is intended to truly make their life better.

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