The Center for Applied Ethics: Organ Donation

Report Relating to Organ Donation and the Recovery, Preservation, and Transplantation of Organs
2005-2006: HRSA
CAE staff developed a report, which will be submitted by the Secretary of Health & Human Services to the U.S. Congress, on the state-of-the-science of organ donation and transplantation, including the federal government’s past accomplishments and future likely contributions.

Increasing Organ Donation by Enhancing End-of-Life Care
1999-2003: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA, Office of Special Programs, Division of Transplantation
EDC collaborated with the New England Organ Bank and three tertiary care hospitals in New England (Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Rhode Island Hospital and Boston Medical Center) to develop and evaluate an institutional intervention to increase organ donation by integrating research findings from three areas: organ donation, end-of-life care, and quality improvement. The intervention included (1) establishment of an interdisciplinary Organ Donation Advisory Committee (ODAC), (2) development, implementation, and monitoring of a critical pathway which used clinical cues to ensure identification and referral of patients with severe neurological injury to the local OPO; and (3) establishment of a Family Support Team that was trained to facilitate communication, provide psychological support, and better coordinate care for families facing the death of a loved one. The project resulted in near-universal referral of all eligible donors to the organ procurement organization and to high levels of clinician and family satisfaction with the Family Support Teams which are still in place in 2 of the 3 hospitals.