Interventions to address health-related social needs among people with kidney failure: A rapid scoping review

BACKGROUND: Globally, socioeconomic disparities persist across the trajectory of chronic kidney disease and are pronounced among people with kidney failure. Unmet health-related social needs contribute to these disparities, but limited guidance exists about how best to address them. To guide implementation, we conducted a rapid scoping review to identify and characterize interventions that address health-related social needs among people with kidney failure. 

METHODS: We adapted established scoping review methods to conduct a rapid review. We searched Embase, PubMed, CINAHL, SCOPUS, and PsychInfo for articles and conference abstracts published since 2013 that described interventions to address health-related social needs as identified in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Accountable Health Communities Health-Related Social Needs Screening Tool. We applied the RE-AIM framework (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) to synthesize findings and characterize intervention components. 

RESULTS: Our review identified three articles and five conference abstracts that described diverse interventions to address health-related social needs among people with kidney failure. Six targeted social support, one addressed food insecurity, and one addressed transportation needs. Two pilot studies to address social support reported high recruitment and retention rates. One study formally tested an intervention to address social support among adolescents with kidney failure and reported negative findings (no change in social exclusion). The level of detail about intervention implementation varied across studies, but none described excluded participants or intervention fidelity, adaptations, or cost. 

CONCLUSIONS: Despite recent attention, there remains a lack of evidence to guide interventions addressing health-related social needs among people with kidney failure. From limited available data, interventions to address social support may be feasible and acceptable.