Being-in-dialysis: The experience of the machine–body for home dialysis users

Abstract

New Zealand leads the world in rates of home dialysis use, yet little is known about the experience of home dialysis from the patient’s perspective. This article contributes to the literature on the self-care of dialysis patients by examining the relevance of the concept of the machine–body and cyborg embodiment for the lived experience of people with end-stage renal failure. The article, which presents a discussion of 24 in-depth interviews undertaken between 2009 and 2012, shows that although dialysis therapy is disruptive of being and time, study participants experience home dialysis in terms of flexibility, control and independence. While they do not use the term machine–body as a descriptor, the concept resonates with felt experience. Data also indicate that positive experience of home dialysis is relative to socio-economic positioning and the lived relation of patients to others, necessitating further research to examine these factors.