Transplant Professionals' Attitudes and Approaches to the Living Kidney Donor-Recipient Relationship: Interview Study.
1Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
2Centre for Kidney Research, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia
3School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
4Psycho-Oncology Co-Operative Research Group, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
5Centre for Medical Psychology &
Evidence-Based Decision-Making, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
6Division of Nephrology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
7Department of Nephrology, Monash Health and Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, Department of Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
8Centre for Transplant and Renal Research, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Meeting: 2017 American Transplant Congress
Abstract number: C250
Keywords: Kidney transplantation, Psychosocial
Session Information
Session Name: Poster Session C: Psychosocial and Treatment Adherence
Session Type: Poster Session
Date: Monday, May 1, 2017
Session Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm
Presentation Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm
Location: Hall D1
Background: Assessment of the donor-recipient relationship is recommended by international guidelines to prevent undue coercion and ensure realistic expectations. We aimed to describe attitudes and experiences of transplant professionals on the donor-recipient relationship in living kidney donation.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 53 transplant professionals (nephrologists, surgeons, coordinators, social workers, psychiatrists and psychologists). Transcripts were analyzed thematically.
Results: Four themes were identified: protecting vulnerability (ensuring genuine motivation, uncovering precarious dynamics, shared accountability, necessity of psychosocial input, trusting emotional bonds, overriding emotional decision making); safeguarding against coercion (navigating power dynamics, wary of ethical boundaries, managing opacity, understanding interpersonal dynamics); fostering the bond (hoping for strengthened connection, giving equitable attention to donors and recipients); and mitigating against relationship strains (preempting conflict, acknowledging relationship change, ensuring realistic expectations).
Conclusion: Transplant professionals regarded the donor-recipient relationship as the driving moral imperative of the donation and thus believe that assessing the donor-recipient relationship is ethically necessary to minimize the risk of undue coercion and to protect donors and recipients. However, some feel challenged in disentangling altruism and voluntariness from the potential pressures of familial and societal duty they believe donors may not disclose, and question the level of justifiable medical paternalism.
CITATION INFORMATION: Ralph A, Butow P, Craig J, Chapman J, Gill J, Kanellis J, Tong A. Transplant Professionals' Attitudes and Approaches to the Living Kidney Donor-Recipient Relationship: Interview Study. Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Ralph A, Butow P, Craig J, Chapman J, Gill J, Kanellis J, Tong A. Transplant Professionals' Attitudes and Approaches to the Living Kidney Donor-Recipient Relationship: Interview Study. [abstract]. Am J Transplant. 2017; 17 (suppl 3). https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/transplant-professionals-attitudes-and-approaches-to-the-living-kidney-donor-recipient-relationship-interview-study/. Accessed May 12, 2025.« Back to 2017 American Transplant Congress