Introducing an Organ Donor Registry is Saskatchewan

On 3 September 2020, Saskatchewan launched an organ donor registry that allows participants 16 years and older to register their intent to be an organ donor either online or using a paper form. Saskatchewan has historically performed poorly at a national level with low rates of organ donations. Saskatchewan's new registry is intended to increase the numbers of organ donors in the province, while also helping to modernize its organ donation system and ease donation conversations with families. Saskatchewan's introduction of this registry brought the province in line with other provinces and territories across Canada that use similar systems, and provided a response to the surge in public interest around organ donation that followed the Humboldt Bronco bus crash tragedy and related ``Logan Boulet Effect.'' The 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 provincial budgets included dedicated funding for the development and launch of the registry, which was accompanied by a media campaign to increase public awareness. Though it is too early to evaluate the success of the registry, early indications suggest donation rates will be a key evaluation metric. Registries are commonly thought to help increase public awareness of, and support for, organ donation, but improving Saskatchewan's organ donation rates will likely also require companion measures to strengthen the culture and practice of donation in the province.

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Introducing an Organ Donor Registry is Saskatchewan

Health Reform Observer - Observatoire des Réformes de Santé ◽

10.13162/hro-ors.v9i2.4669 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Amy Zarzeczny ◽

◽

Luiza Radu ◽

Keyword(s):

Organ Donation ◽

Public Interest ◽

Public Awareness ◽

National Level ◽

Organ Donor ◽

Organ Donors ◽

Media Campaign ◽

Organ Donations ◽

Paper Form ◽

Evaluation Metric

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Ethical and Legal Implications of Elective Ventilation and Organ Transplantation: “Medicalization” of Dying versus Medical Mission

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2014/973758 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-5 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Paola Frati ◽

Vittorio Fineschi ◽

Matteo Gulino ◽

Gianluca Montanari Vergallo ◽

Natale Mario Di Luca ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organ Donation ◽

Organ Donor ◽

Legal Framework ◽

Organ Donors ◽

Organ Perfusion ◽

Medical Mission ◽

Legal Implications ◽

Legal Context ◽

Successful Transplantation ◽

Italian Context

A critical controversy surrounds the type of allowable interventions to be carried out in patients who are potential organ donors, in an attempt to improve organ perfusion and successful transplantation. The main goal is to transplant an organ in conditions as close as possible to its physiological live state. “Elective ventilation” (EV), that is, the use of ventilation for the sole purpose of retrieving the organs of patients close to death, is an option which offsets the shortage of organ donation. We have analyzed the legal context of the dying process of the organ donor and the feasibility of EV in the Italian context. There is no legal framework regulating the practice of EV, neither is any real information given to the general public. A public debate has yet to be initiated. In the Italian cultural and legislative scenario, we believe that, under some circumstances (i.e., the expressed wishes of the patient, even in the form of advance directives), the use of EV does not violate the principle of beneficence. We believe that the crux of the matter lies in the need to explore the real determination and will of the patient and his/her orientation towards the specific aim of organ donation.

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Abstract 16: Sex Disparities in Organ Donation: Finding an Equal Donor Pool

Circulation Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes ◽

10.1161/hcq.13.suppl_1.16 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (Suppl_1) ◽

Author(s):

Erika Yee ◽

Seyedeh Maryam Hosseini ◽

Bianca Duarte ◽

Shannon Knapp ◽

Nancy K Sweitzer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organ Donation ◽

Family Member ◽

Family Members ◽

Organ Donor ◽

Medical Mistrust ◽

Organ Donors ◽

Donor Pool ◽

Men And Women ◽

Willingness To Donate ◽

Amazon's Mechanical Turk

Introduction: The majority of living organ donors are women, and the majority of deceased organ donors are men. This poses a problem for transplant candidates who have worsened survival with sex mismatched organs. The objective of this study was to identify reasons for disparities in organ donation between sexes and identify strategies to increase organ donors. Methods: We conducted a fifteen question survey using a crowdsourcing marketplace, Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, in September 2019. The survey assessed how participants make decisions about becoming an organ donor. The survey was distributed to U.S. adult participants, including eight write-in questions and two Likert scale questions. Qualitative descriptive analyses were used to understand reasons for and against becoming an organ donor. Quantitative results were compared with t test. Results: Among the 667 eligible participants representing 49 states, 54.9% were women and 63.1% were in the 18-40 age group. The majority of men (64.8%) and women (63.4%) were registered organ donors. Among men and women donors, three themes guided their willingness to donate: desire to help others, personal experience with organ donors/recipients, and believing organs would have no use to the donor once dead. Among men and women non-donors, decisions were guided by three themes: no reason, medical mistrust, considering becoming a donor. Themes varied by sex when considering whether to donate organs of a deceased family member. Women were guided equally by two themes: family member’s wishes and believing the deceased family member had no further use for organs. Men had similar themes but valued the family member’s wishes more. Women’s willingness to donate their own organs to family members (p=0.03) and strangers (p=0.02) was significantly higher than men. Among non-donors, both sexes would consider becoming organ donors if more information was provided. Conclusion: In a national survey of adults, women and men had similar reasons for becoming and not becoming an organ donor. However compared to men, women were more willing to donate their organs and more altruistic in the donation of family members’ organs. Women’s deceased organ donation may increase with further communication of women’s wishes before death and by improved public education about organ donation.

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A global pandemic is not a good time to introduce ‘opt-out’ for organ donation

Medical Law International ◽

10.1177/0968533220950002 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 155-166

Author(s):

Jordan A. Parsons ◽

Greg Moorlock

Keyword(s):

Organ Donation ◽

Media Coverage ◽

Public Awareness ◽

Good Time ◽

Organ Donors ◽

Resuscitation Orders ◽

Global Pandemic ◽

Opt Out ◽

The Impact ◽

New System

Following several international examples, England introduced a system of deemed consent for organ donation in May 2020. This had been planned for over a year. However, the unprecedented circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic raise issues that make the timing of this change unfortunate. The planned public awareness campaign has thus far been overshadowed by media coverage of the pandemic, and will likely continue to be, creating a situation in which a significant portion of the population may be unaware of having become potential organ donors. Further, the immediate impact of the new policy is likely to be significantly weakened by the suspension of the majority of organ donation and transplant activity. In this article, we first outline the details of the new model introduced in England, before considering the impact of the pandemic on transplantation services. We put forward three ethical reasons why, given the unprecedented circumstances, the change should have been postponed. We argue that (1) COVID-19 dominating headlines will prevent widespread awareness of the change, thereby undermining the autonomy of those who do not wish to be donors; (2) a lack of transplant activity during the pandemic will make the impact of the change difficult to measure; and (3) trust in the new system may be damaged given controversial decisions regarding Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation orders and the allocation of scarce intensive care resources. These reasons combined make for a shaky start at best and present a risk of the new system failing to achieve its desired and essential effect of increasing the number of voluntary organ donors.

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Illinois Department of Motor Vehicle Customers’ Reasons for (Not) Registering as an Organ Donor

Progress in Transplantation ◽

10.1177/1526924819835838 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 157-163 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Tobias Reynolds-Tylus ◽

Brian L. Quick ◽

Andy J. King ◽

Miriam Moore

Keyword(s):

African Americans ◽

Organ Donation ◽

Motor Vehicle ◽

Organ Donor ◽

Organ Donors ◽

Biological Sex ◽

Negative Beliefs ◽

Personal Experiences ◽

Promotional Efforts ◽

Promotional Messages

Context: Organ donation campaigns are maximized when promotional messages address salient issues among the intended audience. A diverse sample (N = 1573) was recruited to identify the reasons for (not) registering as an organ donor. Objective: Relying on an established coding scheme, an updated explanation for why individuals register (or not) as organ donors is provided. Moreover, registration trends with respect to race, biological sex, and age is presented. Method: Participants exiting Department of Motor Vehicle offices (N = 12) were surveyed to understand their reasons for registering and not registering as organ donors. Results: Benefits of donation followed by prior registration, rational arguments, and personal experiences represented nearly 90% of the coded responses for registering. Conversely, negative beliefs, decisional uncertainty, perceived disqualification, no reason, general fear/disgust, and lack of opportunity constituted nearly 90% of the coded responses for not registering as an organ donor. Whites and Latinx individuals were more likely to register as organ donors compared to African Americans. Participants in the lower (18-24) and upper (65+) age brackets had the lowest donor registration rates. Conclusion: Promotional efforts should continue to target younger and older audience segments with information about organ donation as well as African Americans. Results from the current study suggest emphasizing the benefits of organ donation as well as overcoming negative beliefs, decisional uncertainty, and perceived disqualifications.

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Organ Donation Registration and Decision-Making Among Current Blood Donors in the Netherlands

Progress in Transplantation ◽

10.1177/1526924817715470 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 266-272 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Eva-Maria Merz ◽

Katja van den Hurk ◽

Wim L.A.M. de Kort

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Organ Donation ◽

Cultural Context ◽

Blood Donors ◽

Research Question ◽

Organ Donor ◽

Information Provision ◽

Personal Factors ◽

Organ Donations ◽

Donor Population

Introduction: In the Netherlands, there is a constant shortage in donor organs, resulting in long waiting lists. The decision to register as organ donor is associated with several demographic, cultural, and personal factors. Previous research on attitudes and motivations toward blood and organ donations provided similar results. Research Question: The current study investigated demographic, cultural, and personal determinants of organ donation registration among current Dutch blood donors. Design: We used data from Donor InSight (2012; N = 20 063), a cohort study among Dutch blood donors, to test whether age, gender, religious and political preferences, donor attitude, and altruism predicted organ donor registration among current blood donors. Results: Organ donors were more often represented in the blood donor population compared to the general Dutch population. Women showed a higher propensity to be registered as organ donor. Higher education as well as higher prosocial value orientation, prosocial behavior, that is, doing volunteer work, and awareness of need significantly associated with being registered as organ donor. Religious denomination negatively predicted organ donation registration across all faiths. Discussion: Results are discussed in light of cultural context, and possible implications for improving information provision and recruitment are mentioned.

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Organ Donation by Suicides: Sex and Ethnicity

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/12.13.pr0.115c29z7 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 115 (3) ◽

pp. 948-950

Author(s):

David Lester ◽

Dominique Hathaway

Keyword(s):

Organ Donation ◽

Sex Difference ◽

General Public ◽

Causes Of Death ◽

Ethnic Difference ◽

Future Research ◽

Organ Donors ◽

Men And Women ◽

Organ Donations

An analysis of 2,034 actual organ donations by suicides for the years 2008–2010 indicated that women were more likely to be donors than were men and Blacks more likely to donate than were Whites. The sex difference was consistent with the responses of men and women to surveys of the general public about their willingness to become organ donors, but the ethnic difference was the reverse of the responses to surveys of the general public about their willingness to be organ donors. Future research should explore the role of the responses, positive vs negative toward organ donation, of the significant others of those dying from different causes of death, and the extent to which people have signed donor cards.

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Safety and Biovigilance in Organ Donation (SAFEBOD): Protocol for a Population-Based Cohort Study

JMIR Research Protocols ◽

10.2196/18282 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. e18282

Author(s):

Brenda Rosales ◽

James Hedley ◽

Nicole De La Mata ◽

Claire M Vajdic ◽

Patrick Kelly ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Outcome ◽

New Zealand ◽

Data Collection ◽

Organ Donation ◽

Perceived Risk ◽

Organ Donor ◽

Outcome Data ◽

Transmission Risk ◽

Data Sets ◽

Organ Donors

Background Tension lies between the need to increase access to organ transplantation and the equally urgent need to prevent inadvertent transmission of infectious diseases or cancer from organ donors. Biovigilance, or the evaluation of potential donors, is often time-pressured and may be based on incomplete information. Objective The Safety and Biovigilance in Organ Donation (SAFEBOD) study aims to improve estimates of infection and cancer transmission risk and explore how real-time data access could support decision-making. Methods We will link existing donor referral, actual donor, recipient, and health-outcome data sets from 2000-2015 in New South Wales. Organ donor data sets will include the Organ Donor Characterizing Risk-Profile of Donors Study, the National Organ Matching System, the Australian and New Zealand Organ Donor Register, and the Australian and New Zealand Living Donor Kidney Register. Recipient data sets will include the Australian and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Register, the Australian and New Zealand Cardiothoracic Register, the Australian and New Zealand Islet and Pancreas Register, and the Australian and New Zealand Liver Transplant Register. New South Wales health outcome data sets will include HIV and AIDS Notifications and Surveillance Data, the Notifiable Conditions Information Management System, Admitted Patient Data Collection, Emergency Department Data Collection, the Central Cancer Registry, and the Cause of Death Data Collection. We will link organ donors to transplant recipients and health outcomes data sets using probabilistic data-matching based on personal identifiers. Transmission and nontransmission events will be determined by comparing previous cases in donors and posttransplant cases in recipients. We will compare the perceived-risk at referral with the verified risk from linked health outcome data sets and the odds of cancer or contracting an infectious disease in organ recipients from donors based on their transmission-risk profile and estimate recipient survival by donor transmission risk group. Results Data were requested from each of the listed registries in September 2018, and data collection is ongoing. Linked data from all listed data sets are expected to be complete in September 2020. Conclusions The SAFEBOD study will overcome current limitations in organ donation by accessing comprehensive information on referred organ donors and recipients in existing data sets. The study will provide robust estimates of disease transmission and nontransmission events based on recent data. It will also describe the agreement between perceived risk estimated at the time of referral and verified risk when all health outcome data are accessible. The improved understanding of transmission and nontransmission events will inform clinical decisions and highlight where current policies can be revised to broaden the acceptance of deceased donors. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/18282

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Ablehnungs- und Umsetzungsraten von Organtransplantationen – mögliche Ursachen und denkbare Auswege

10.38107/017 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Monika Pfyffer von Altishofen

Keyword(s):

Organ Donation ◽

Retrospective Analysis ◽

Living Wills ◽

Organ Donors ◽

Post Mortem ◽

Legal Situation ◽

Cantonal Hospital ◽

Organ Donations ◽

The Will ◽

Observation Period

The work deals intensively with the very complex topic of post-mortem organ donation and the question of why it is that not all organs of potential organ donors are considered in transplantation. It covers central questions of the legally and ethically required handling of dying and death. In addition to a presentation of the relevant legal situation, the statistical findings on organ transplants performed in Switzerland during the observation period, the relatively high rates of rejection and low rates of conversion of organ donations by means of retrospective analysis of the data of all in 2013 at their then place of work, the Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen are made and their results compared with those of the national SwissPOD study. The "primary desirable goal" of the measures taken to promote organ donation appears to the author to be less the "increase in available organs, but rather reflection on dying and one's own death", which is why she would welcome an increase in the number of living wills and organ donation cards available, in order to thereby reduce the emotionally stressful proxy decisions - regardless of the will specified therein.

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Chaplain “DOs and DON’Ts” on Organ Donation

Ethics & Medics ◽

10.5840/em201843711 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 43 (7) ◽

pp. 1-2

Author(s):

Jozef Zalot ◽

Keyword(s):

Organ Donation ◽

Organ Procurement ◽

Family Members ◽

Organ Donor ◽

Organ Donors ◽

Vital Organ ◽

Course Of Action ◽

Donation Process ◽

Organ Procurement Organizations ◽

The Relationship

This guide was developed in collaboration with LifeCenter Organ Donor Network (Cincinnati, OH) to offer chaplains a framework for the best possible course of action when they provide spiritual care to family members of patients who are potential vital organ donors. Some organ procurement organizations (OPOs) may want to control the donation process. They are thus hesitant to invite in—let alone collaborate with—any “outsiders” who they believe might undermine the likelihood of procuring vital organs. So how should a chaplain respond when ministering to potential vital organ donors and their families? Should they speak with family members about donation? What should they say? Do OPOs want chaplains to speak with family members? Should there be limits to these conversations? This can be a touchy area, because vital organ donation necessarily entails the death of the patient. This makes the relationship between chaplains and OPOs sometimes strained.

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