Donor Rights and the Living Donor Advocate
The Living Donor Advocacy Service is made up of skilled professionals who have special knowledge about living donation, transplantation, medical ethics and informed consent. These professionals are not on The Kidney Transplant Program staff and are therefore in a unique position to be more objective about and supportive of you as a living donor. Their role is to protect the living donors from making decisions that they might not want to make or that they don’t fully understand.
You will be asked if you would like to speak with a Living Donor Advocate who will arrange to speak with you to discuss your unique circumstances and to make sure that you are well informed before you make any decisions. The Living Donor Advocate is your advocate and looks out for your best interests. He or she will avoid contact with your intended recipient so that there is no conflict of interest or accidental breach of confidentiality.
Your Living Donor Advocate’s responsibilities include making sure that:
- You understand what the doctors, nurses and other transplant team members are telling you about living donation.
- You are well informed about living donation so that if you do decide to consent to donate, that you do so after careful consideration and with good information.
- You are not experiencing any pressure or other inappropriate encouragement to donate.
- You can ask any question and get honest and clear answers with complete privacy and confidentiality.
Even though the Living Donor Advocate is not a member of the Kidney Transplant Team, he or she will provide the team with enough information about your case so that the team is confident that you are under the care of the advocate. Any information shared will be done so in your best interest and according to the patient information privacy laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Informed Consent
If you decide to become a Living Donor, you will be required to read, understand and sign a Living Donor Consent form that confirms your understanding of the issues surrounding Live Donation.
As part of these protocols, your Independent Donor Advocate will review the Informed Consent with you and answer any questions that you may have. In fact, don’t hesitate to ask your Independent Donor Advocate and any other Kidney Transplant Center staff any questions you have.
The decision to become a living donor involves careful consideration and is a completely voluntary one. If you are considering being a living organ donor, it’s important to educate yourself about the donation process, required testing, financial considerations, risks and recovery. It is also important to know that you may change your mind at any time during the process. Your decision and reasons are kept confidential.
For Additional Information
If you have a question about Living Donor transplants at Crozer Health, email kidney@crozer.org or call 610-619-8420.