Get-together raises support for kidney donation

October 30, 2009 03:27 pm | Updated December 17, 2016 05:19 am IST - CHENNAI

Walkathon for World Kindney Day organised by TANKER Foundation in Chennai. File Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Walkathon for World Kindney Day organised by TANKER Foundation in Chennai. File Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Get-togethers with a kidney disease patient's family and friends can improve their willingness to consider donation, according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego, CA. The findings indicate that group-education of patients' relatives and friends is an effective way to help alleviate the organ shortage and increase living donations.

According to a press release by EurekAlert, while kidney transplantation from a living donor is the best treatment option for most patients with kidney failure, living donation is often overlooked because family members and friends are not aware that they could be potential donors and patients are reluctant or embarrassed to ask their loved ones for a kidney.

Ton van Kooy, MD, Marinus van den Dorpel, MD (Maasstadziekenhuis, Rotterdam, Netherlands), and their colleagues developed an intervention that addresses both of these issues. They invited relatives and friends of kidney disease patients to attend a meeting-usually at the patient's home-to get information about kidney disease, its impact on life, and how they could help the patient. An experienced hospital social worker and a trained nurse practitioner took part in the discussions, and they provided information on the differences between dialysis and kidney transplantation, including the risks and benefits of living kidney donation for both recipient and donor.

In all 10 groups that participated in these discussions, the patients, relatives, and friends unanimously welcomed the approach and felt an improved understanding and bonding within the group. Within three months, potential kidney donors came forward from all 10 groups. The results indicate that group education may enhance individuals' willingness to consider living kidney donation, which offers great potential benefits to patients.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.