We will find ways to make kidney transplants last longer, dialysis more tolerable, reduce the burden of treatment and monitoring, and improve quality of life for people living with kidney disease. We will harness and develop technology to enable people to take control of their kidney health.

We will investigate how kidney disease is linked to other conditions that people commonly experience at the same time, including heart disease, diabetes and mental health problems.

Mental health priority research themes

People living with kidney disease have high rates of poor mental health, and this is a major barrier to managing their condition as well as a cause of significant distress to them and their families.

Following publication of our report earlier this year Addressing the mental health challenges of life with kidney disease: a case for change these are the key areas where we aim to prioritise research:

1. Understand the mechanisms underpinning the association between poorer mental health and kidney disease: the biological, psychological, and social factors and their inter-relationships.
2. Establish whether adverse childhood experiences are associated with a higher risk of kidney disease.
3. Establish if there is an increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder or psychological trauma for people receiving kidney replacement therapy.
4. Establish how psychosocial outcomes are impacted for people at higher risk of kidney disease. Is there a greater risk for people receiving haemodialysis as compared to other forms of kidney replacement therapy? Does the risk increase for the specific groups identified in our report?
5. Increase our understanding of the specific needs and issues for young people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) as they transition from child to adult health services, considering the impact on their social, familial, and societal relationships alongside the clinical perspective. We want to understand how a multi-layered approach involving young people, their families, health and social care providers and systems, operating within a cultural, political, and condition-related context can impact the outcomes of transition.
6. A comparison of the outcomes of specialised vs generic psychosocial support for people with kidney disease.
7. Increase the evidence to understand whether and how depressive symptoms are associated with a decline in kidney function in adults who do not have kidney disease.
8. Increase the evidence for how to improve kidney care for people living with severe mental illness, through staff education, cross-team working and greater support.

Further details of these priority areas can be found within our report: Addressing the mental health challenges of life with kidney disease: a case for change, jointly produced with Centre for Mental Health. The report examines the mental health impact of kidney disease on patients and recommends urgent improvements to the current models of care. It documents evidence of the immense burden that invasive and life-limiting treatments place on kidney patients’ mental health.

Further research into the provision of psychosocial (psychological and social) support for people with kidney disease is underway, including some studies funded by Kidney Research UK. However, we need to grow our evidence-base through further research and utilise the evidence appropriately to inform the ongoing development of services, and ensure that we continue to learn what works in which circumstances.

We will highlight the inequalities of kidney disease; we will investigate why some groups of people are more at risk of kidney disease, and progress to kidney failure much faster. We will press for greater diversity in kidney research, so that discoveries benefit everyone.