Can Focusing on Self-Care Reduce Disparities in Kidney Transplantation Outcomes?

Abstract

Considerable scholarly attention has been paid to examining racial and ethnic disparities in organ transplantation, notably access to transplantation and organ allocation. Less discussion has been directed toward the disparities in transplant outcomes: of both patient and graft survival. Patient and graft survival can be attributed to a diverse array and interplay of biological and sociocultural factors. This report focuses on one factor, self-care, as a new approach for examining transplant outcomes. More importantly, this article highlights how self-care may identify and reduce social disparities in long-term transplant outcomes.