Black Americans’ Perspectives of Barriers and Facilitators of Community Screening for Kidney Disease

Abstract

Findings of this study suggest that provider-delivered culturally sensitive education and stakeholder engagement are critical to increase trust, decrease fear, and maximize participation and early identification of kidney disease among black Americans considering community screening.

Community-Based CKD Screening in Black Americans

“…Greenblatt et al (10) recently explored reasons influencing receptivity among 194 older minorities (72 blacks) to hypertension and diabetes screening, two major CKD risk factors, in the dental setting. They overall found similar findings, such as the role of mistrust, perceived lack of need, anxiety, etc., reinforcing the generalizability of the work by Umeukeje et al (8).…”

“…This is especially true for blacks in the United States due to the historical and persisting institutionalized racism leading to mistrust and disengagement. In this issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Umeukeje et al (8) report on results from a series of interviews to gain a better understanding of the current sense of barriers and facilitators (Table 1) to the likelihood of blacks participating in community-based CKD screenings. Study participants included a mixture of community members-some who participated in prior CKD screenings and some who did not.…”

“…Thus, population-level screening for multiple cardiorenal and metabolic factors or targeted CKD screenings for high-risk individuals seem to have broad support from many organizations. Using the principals of engagement outlined by Umeukeje et al (8), they should be implemented in high-risk CKD communities and especially, communities of African descent in the United States, where there is often the dual risk of exposure to adverse social determinants of health coupled with the high prevalence of at-risk CKD gene variants.…”

A taxonomy of impacts on clinical and translational research from community stakeholder engagement

“…Patient and community stakeholders are being involved in re‐shaping priorities for health research, setting the research agenda, establishing a presence on proposal review committees, and translating research results into easily understood findings for the public audience . Viewed retrospectively, community stakeholders' contributions have added community needs to research priorities, produced culturally tailored and targeted recruitment strategies and patient‐oriented study material, enhanced approaches to research design and implementation, and improved translation and dissemination of research findings. Community Engagement (CE) Studios, focus groups, community listening sessions, advisory/oversight councils, and grant review committees are examples of strategies employed to involve community stakeholders in clinical and translational research .…”

Race in America

“…Blacks in the United States are disadvantaged across social determinants of health: socioeconomic status, psychosocial factors, health care access, neighborhood, and environment. Because CKD screening is associated with better health care and outcomes, a recent study addressed barriers and facilitators for CKD screening among focus groups composed of blacks in Nashville, Tennessee (8). Among other factors, they identified lack of knowledge, mistrust, and financial burden as major barriers.…”