Consent from families: Is there a better way to ask?
UNOS to determine best requesting practices
Given that fewer than half of families approached about organ donation give consent, it is essential that hospitals and procurement coordinators examine how they approach families at such a crucial time, say officials with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
The organization will convene a conference on April 28-30 in Orlando, with more than 50 organ donation and transplantation professionals to discuss different donation request techniques and reach consensus on best practices.
Currently, a number of researchers are examining different approaches to the donation request process and the results of these efforts will be discussed at the conference, says UNOS executive director Walter Graham.
"One of our major goals as an organization is to help increase the number of organs available for transplantation in the United States," he explains. "By bringing together the nation’s foremost experts on the organ and tissue donation request process with the organ procurement community, we will together decide on the best approach and how to implement it nationwide."
The conference will provide an interactive forum for researchers examining consent-related issues to present their findings then work with UNOS officials and representatives of the donation and transplant communities to develop a strategy for converting the new knowledge into practical, real-world practice, he states.
Research to be presented at the conference will identify the common facts, characteristics, temperaments and needs among professionals who are routinely successful when approaching families and potential donors.
Projects to be presented include:
• Beyond Proficiency: Successful Organ Procurement Organization Donation Advocate Project, A UNOS-sponsored behavioral study of the country’s most successful donation advocates, funded by the F.M. Kirby Foundation.
• Stage-Based Curriculum Training for Procurement Coordinators to Increase Family Consent for Organ and Tissue Donation, a study of the Transtheoretical Model by the South-Eastern Organ Procurement Foundation, made possible by a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Family Consent: Developing a Model Intervention to Increase Consent to Organ Donation, a research collaboration of Laura Siminoff and Bob Arnold, made possible through grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Ohio Second Chance Trust Fund, and Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals.
• Study of Presumptive Approach to Consent for Organ Donation, by Art Caplan and Sheldon Zink of the University of Pennsylvania, funded by a HRSA grant.
• Interdisciplinary Experiential Training for End-of-life Care and Organ Donation, a collaboration of Johns Hopkins University and the Transplant Resource Center of Maryland, funded by a HRSA grant.
• Project to Increase Organ Recovery From Level I Trauma Centers — Life Gift Organ Donation Center’s program placing "in-house procurement coordinators" in trauma centers.
For more information about the conference, visit the UNOS web site at www.unos.org.
Given that fewer than half of families approached about organ donation give consent, it is essential that hospitals and procurement coordinators examine how they approach families at such a crucial time, say officials with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
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