Review article details strategies to improve access to living donor transplantation

Published on: Thursday, May 2, 2019

Educating transplant candidates, their social support networks, and potential living donors about the benefits, risks and opportunities for living donation can increase candidates’ access to living donor transplants. A team of authors from the OPTN Living Donor Committee assessed a number of educational efforts to promote knowledge about and access to living donor transplantation.

Their review of these approaches is summarized in Current Transplantation Reports, now available in open access. The committee studied these approaches as part of their development of a booklet to inform transplant candidates about ways to locate a potential living donor.

The authors reviewed 19 educational programs reported in medical literature; some were randomized controlled trials, while others were observational studies of non-randomized efforts. The article summarizes and adds observations to the outcomes of each.

In general, the authors noted, comprehensive educational approaches can increase transplant candidates’ knowledge of and comfort in discussing living donor transplantation. This can, in turn, help improve transplant access for patients who may benefit from a living donor transplant.

The article citation is as follows:

Hunt, H.F., Rodrigue, J.R., Dew, M.A. et al. Strategies for Increasing Knowledge, Communication, and Access to Living Donor Transplantation: an Evidence Review to Inform Patient Education. Curr Transpl Rep (2018) 5: 27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40472-018-0181-1