Organ And Tissue Donation An Evidence Base For Practice

What is the historical and social context that shapes our attitudes towards organ and tissue donation? How do the bereavement experiences of organ donor families differ from other types of bereavement? How can health and social care professionals support bereaved families leading up to, during and after organ and tissue donation? This ground-breaking book is a valuable addition to the end-of-life, palliative and bereavement care literature. Using original research findings relating to the social and psychological issues surrounding organ donation, this book provides a strong evidence-base and brings together contemporary research carried out in the developed world. The book is internationally applicable, especially in countries with Westernised healthcare systems and where organ donation takes place using similar practices to the UK. Key areas covered include: Examination of the historical development of human dissection and how it created a context for legislation Analysis of how human organ and tissue donation is currently understood The social theories that help explain the donation event and families’ and health professionals’ experiences of it Organ and Tissue Donation: An Evidence Base for Practice is essential reading for transplant coordinators and qualified clinical practitioners working in intensive care, accident and emergency departments, operating theatres, palliative care units and bereavement support and counselling services. It is also a core text for specialist postgraduate programmes and a useful reference book for national organisations concerned with donation and transplant services.

What is the historical and social context that shapes our attitudes towards organ and tissue donation? How do the bereavement experiences of organ donor families differ from other types of bereavement? How can health and social care professionals support bereaved families leading up to, during and after organ and tissue donation? This ground-breaking book is a valuable addition to the end-of-life, palliative and bereavement care literature. Using original research findings relating to the social and psychological issues surrounding organ donation, this book provides a strong evidence-base and brings together contemporary research carried out in the developed world. The book is internationally applicable, especially in countries with Westernised healthcare systems and where organ donation takes place using similar practices to the UK. Key areas covered include: Examination of the historical development of human dissection and how it created a context for legislation Analysis of how human organ and tissue donation is currently understood The social theories that help explain the donation event and families' and health professionals' experiences of it Organ and Tissue Donation: An Evidence Base for Practice is essential reading for transplant coordinators and qualified clinical practitioners working in intensive care, accident and emergency departments, operating theatres, palliative care units and bereavement support and counselling services. It is also a core text for specialist postgraduate programmes and a useful reference book for national organisations concerned with donation and transplant services.

In 1997, the Institute of Medicine published a report entitled Non-Heart- Beating Organ Transplantation: Medical and Ethical Issues in Procurement. The findings and recommendations of that study defined the ethical and scientific basis for non-heart-beating organ donation and transplantation, and provided specific recommendations for practices that affirm patient welfare, promote patient and family choice, and avoid conflicts of interest. Following the 1997 study, the Department of Health and Human Services requested a follow up study to promote such efforts. The central activity for this study was a workshop held in Washington, D.C., on May 24-25, 1999. The workshop provided the opportunity for extensive dialogue on non-heart-beating organ donation among hospitals and organ procurement organizations (OPOs) that are actively involved in non-heartbeating organ and tissue donation and those with concerns about whether and how to proceed. The findings and recommendations of this report are based in large measure on the discussions and insights from that workshop. Non-Heart-Beating Organ Transplantation includes seven recommendations for developing and implementing non-heart-beating-donor protocols. These recommendations were based on the findings and recommendations from the 1997 IOM report and consensus achieved among participants at the national workshop. The committee developed these recommendations as steps towards an approach to non-heart-beating-donor organ donation and procurement consistent with underlying scientific and ethical guidelines, patient and family options and choices, and public trust in organ donation.

Organ and tissue transplantation can be an effective treatment for many patients, including those facing illness, disability or premature death through organ or tissue failure. Most transplanted organs and tissues come from deceased donors. Living donation offers an alternative for patients awaiting transplantation from a deceased donor, increases the existing donor organ and tissue supply and provides a source of tissues that cannot be retrieved from deceased donors.

The organ donation and transplantation system strives to honor the gift of donated organs by fully using those organs to save and improve the quality of the lives of their recipients. However, there are not enough donated organs to meet the demand and some donated organs may not be recovered, some recovered organs may not be transplanted, and some transplanted organs may not function adequately. Organ donor intervention research can test and assess interventions (e.g., medications, devices, and donor management protocols) to maintain or improve organ quality prior to, during, and following transplantation. The intervention is administered either while the organ is still in the deceased donor or after it is recovered from the donor but before it is transplanted into a recipient. Organ donor intervention research presents new challenges to the organ donation and transplantation community because of ethical questions about who should be considered a human subject in a research study, whose permission and oversight are needed, and how to ensure that such research does not threaten the equitable distribution of a scarce and valuable resource. Opportunities for Organ Donor Intervention Research focuses on the ethical, legal, regulatory, policy, and organizational issues relevant to the conduct of research in the United States involving deceased organ donors. This report provides recommendations for how to conduct organ donor intervention research in a manner that maintains high ethical standards, that ensures dignity and respect for deceased organ donors and their families, that provides transparency and information for transplant candidates who might receive a research organ, and that supports and sustains the public's trust in the process of organ donation and transplantation.

This ground-breaking book is a valuable addition to the end-of-life, palliative and bereavement care literature