title: The independent living donor advocate: a guidance document from the American Society of Transplantation's Living Donor Community of Practice (AST LDCOP).
abstract: The independent living donor advocate (ILDA) serves a mandated and supportive role in the care of the living organ donor, yet qualifications and role requirements are not clearly defined. Guidance comes from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Conditions for Transplant Center Participation and interpretive guidelines, Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Policy and CMS and OPTN site surveys, yet interpretation of regulations varies. Herein, the AST Living Donor Community of Practice (LDCOP) offers seven recommendations to clarify and optimize the ILDA role: (a) the ILDA must have a certain skill set rather than a specific profession, (b) the ILDA must be educated and demonstrate competence in core knowledge components, (c) the ILDA's primary role is to assess components of informed consent, (d) centers must develop a transparent system to define ILDA independence, (e) the ILDA should have a reporting structure outside the transplant center, (f) the ILDA's role should be integrated throughout the donor care continuum, (g) the ILDA role should include a narrow "veto power." We address controversies in ILDA implementation, and offer pathways to maximize benefits and minimize limitations of approaches that may each meet regulatory requirements but confer different practice benefits. We propose a research agenda to explore the impact of the ILDA.
authors.affiliation: Transplant Clinic, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, WI.
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Hays
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: LaPointe Rudow
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dew
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Taler
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Spicer
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Mandelbrot
mesh_terms: D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000592:standards; D004522:Educational Status; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living / Q000592:standards*; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000592:standards; D019520:Living Donors / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology*; D008484:Medicaid; D006278:Medicare; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000592:standards; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology*; D010344:Patient Advocacy / Q000592:standards*; D012657:Self-Help Groups / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States
keywords: allied health/nursing; clinical research/practice; donors and donation: donor evaluation; donors and donation: living; ethics; ethics and public policy; kidney transplantation/nephrology; patient education; social sciences