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Interviewing families about Organ and Tissue Donation
Interviewing families about Donation over the Phone
Our Clients
Michigan Hospital Association
MidMichigan Medical Center, Midland, MI
Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency, Ocean Springs, MS
Interviewing Families About Organ and Tissue Donation: A Professional Approach
Purpose:
Consent rates in organ donation depend upon a variety of factors. Undeniably, one of them is the manner in which families are approached for donation, including the skill of the interviewer. This workshop is designed to familiarize participants with the research in donation, the systems that must be put in place to enable donations to occur at the time of death and to teach the communication skills necessary guide families through the donation discussion.
Description and Success:
This workshop is the premiere training course for approaching families about organ and tissue donation. In the past 25 years, it has been continually updated and offered over 430 times. Customized versions of it are available for the U.S., the United Kingdom and Australia. Philosophically, it is based on research in the fields of death and dying, nursing and critical care that unanimously agree that empathy and the empowerment of families at the time of grief is an essential duty of healthcare providers. While it teaches that part of informed consent is giving specific information about the good that donation and transplant can achieve, trendy notions of “presumptive consent” and “dual advocacy” are not taught, as they don’t have a solid research base of their own and are inconsistent with the research from other fields. Participants trained in this workshop and who work in hospital systems set up in accordance with the research presented in it report consent rates as high as 93%.
The workshop utilizes highly personalized instruction in a two-day format. Instructional methods include presentation, large and small group discussion and modeling. Much of the second day of the workshop is devoted to a role-playing session in which each participant conducts an appropriate donation conversation in a structured simulation. Each participant also role-plays family members who are being approached about the possibility of donation. Following each simulation, role-players and participant observers are given additional instruction in the nuances of the donation process. Enrollment is limited to 24 participants.
WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES:
- Identify and reinforce donor conservation strengths and add new skills;
- Gain familiarity with the research on, and legal framework for, donation;
- Understand the structure and steps of "typical" donation conversations and of responding to families' decisions;
- Practice questioning techniques to identify needs and concerns and to provide reassurance and comfort;
- Relay the information necessary for adequate consent;
- Adjust the structure, steps and information in the conversation to allow for special considerations, e.g., cultural differences, telephone consents, donor cards, anger, disunity;
- Complete at least two donation conversation role-plays--one as "interviewer" and one as family member--and participate in group debriefs.
Workshop Support:
Large group instruction on the first day requires a computer, projector and screen, two flip charts with pads, and tables and chairs sufficient for 24 participants. In addition to the room for large group instruction, on the second day of the workshop, two breakout spaces and furniture for role-playing sessions are needed. Detailed instructions for putting on the workshop and room arrangement diagrams will be sent upon booking. Handout masters and instructions will be sent one month in advance.
Advanced Preparation:
Before attending the workshop, each participant should receive a description of the objectives and agenda. Advance materials should communicate that participants are expected to be present for the entire two days of instruction.
Personnel Costs:
Fee: $5,500.00 US, plus reasonable travel expenses
Customization at $150 an hour for updates needed for teaching in various countries.