The effect of the Iranian family approach-specific course (IrFASC) on obtaining consent from deceased organ donors’ families

Abstract

Background: A family approach and obtaining consent from the families of potential brain-dead donors is the most important step of organ procurement in countries where an opt-in policy applies to organ donation. Health care staff's communication skills and ability to have conversations about donation under circumstances of grief and emotion play a crucial role in families' decision-making process and, consequently, the consent rate. Methods: A new training course, called the Iranian family approach-specific course (IrFASC), was designed with the aim of improving interviewers' skills and knowledge, sharing experiences, and increasing coordinators' confidence. The IrFASC was administered to three groups of coordinators. The family consent rate of participants in the same intervals (12 months for group 1, 6 months for group 2, and 3 months for group 3) was measured before and after the training course. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to make comparisons. Results: The family consent rate was significantly different for all participants before and after the training, increasing from 50.0% to 62.5% (P=0.037). Furthermore, sex (P=0.005), previous training (P=0.090), education (P=0.068), and duration of work as a coordinator (P=0.008) had significant effects on the difference in families' consent rates before and after IrFASC. Conclusions: This study showed that the IrFASC training method could improve the success of coordinators in obtaining family consent.

Explanation of the sociological patterns of organ donation: An analytical study

“…[ 5 ] Obtaining consent from the family members of the brain-dead patient is the first and the most important part of organ donation process. [ 16 ] Several factors can affect the family members’ decision for donation of a brain-dead patient's organs. [ 14 ]…”

Issues related to organ donation in Iran

“…3 Coordinators need the training to increase their efficiency in terms of family approach. 4 Moreover, the national deceased donation rate is still below the proposed acceptable target of 25 PMP and well below those of countries leading in organ donation.…”