Facilitators and Barriers to Implementing the Live Donor Champion Program

A. D. Love¹, D. R. Helfer¹, S. Rasmussen¹, M. Johnson¹, J. M. Konel¹, J. R. Wellen², S. M. Nazarian³, E. King¹, D. L. Segev¹, T. Hwee¹, A. M. Cameron¹, M. L. Henderson¹, E. J. Gordon⁴, J. M. Garonzik Wang¹

¹Surgery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, ²Abdominal Transplant Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, ³Surgery, Penn Transplant Institute, Philadelphia, PA, ⁴Surgery, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL

Meeting: 2019 American Transplant Congress

Abstract number: B265

Keywords: Donation, Kidney/liver transplantation, Multicenter studies, Patient education

Session Information

Session Name: Poster Session B: Kidney Living Donor: Quality and Selection

Session Type: Poster Session

Date: Sunday, June 2, 2019

Session Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm

Presentation Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm

Location: Hall C & D

*Purpose: The Live Donor Champion (LDC) Program is an intervention designed to increase kidney transplant candidate knowledge about living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) and ability to find a live kidney donor through advocacy training. This paper assessed facilitators and barriers to intervention implementation at two transplant centers.

*Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders (members of the transplant and donor navigation teams) at two transplant centers before the implementation of the LDC Program to assess facilitators and barriers to successful program implementation. Interview questions were driven by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Interview transcripts were inductively analyzed for themes.

*Results: In total, 16 stakeholders participated (response rate of 94%). Key facilitators included institutional awareness of the potential to increase LDKT rates and help centers compete in the transplant market. Elicited barriers concerned inner setting constructs and intervention characteristics (Figure 1). Barriers influenced by inner setting constructs included competing occupational priorities, the lack of infrastructure supporting collaboration between medical and management teams, and increased workload processing donor referrals (n=8). Barriers influenced by intervention characteristics included patient needs in navigating the new experience of identifying champions as health advocates (n=1), the adaptation of an LDC intervention with fewer meetings (n=1), and unique obstacles in using donor/recipient panels (n=2).

*Conclusions: Study findings suggest that the promise of increased living donation rates drove uptake of the LDC, yet the challenges of implementing LDC pertained to its fit within organizational workflows and concerns about patient/champion level of participation. Efforts to successfully implement LDC to centers must address center compatibility and infrastructure as well as patient needs unique to the program. Future research should assess how these facilitators and barriers affect LDC implementation over time at these two centers.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Love AD, Helfer DR, Rasmussen S, Johnson M, Konel JM, Wellen JR, Nazarian SM, King E, Segev DL, Hwee T, Cameron AM, Henderson ML, Gordon EJ, Wang JMGaronzik. Facilitators and Barriers to Implementing the Live Donor Champion Program [abstract]. Am J Transplant. 2019; 19 (suppl 3). https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/facilitators-and-barriers-to-implementing-the-live-donor-champion-program/. Accessed May 11, 2025.

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