Implementation of the Live Donor Champion Program

NCT ID: NCT03435510

Last Updated: 2025-12-22

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 111 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2018-05-30
• Study Completion Date: 2025-04-30

Brief Summary

The Live Donor Champion Program is a clinical education program offered to patients placed on the waitlist for kidney transplantation at the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center. The goal of the program is to increase patient knowledge regarding end stage renal disease, kidney transplantation, and live kidney donation and to help patients identify potential live kidney donors. Patients are encouraged to bring family and friends to participate in the program and act as advocates on their behalf. These friends and family members are labeled "live donor champions" and work to assist the patient in spreading awareness about end stage renal disease, kidney transplantation, and live kidney donation.

The objectives of this project are to pilot-test and optimize strategies for the dissemination of the Live Donor Champion program in the clinical transplant center setting. The goals of the study are to develop an implementation protocol for centers who want to establish a live donor champion program at their institution.

Detailed Description

Live Donor Champion Concept: Even with adequate education of live donation, many kidney transplant candidates still feel ill equipped to ask others to consider donating. Friends and family are often eager to help and may not be able to serve as donors themselves, but might be able to provide substantial instrumental support. A "Live Donor Champion" (LDC) is a friend, family member, or community member who serves as an advocate for the candidate in their pursuit of live donation. The Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center has developed a six-month program that provides education and advocacy training to waitlist candidates and their LDCs. The instrumental support provided by the LDC bridges a critical link between education and action. In pilot studies, candidates with an LDC were more likely to undergo Live Donor Kidney Transplant (LDKT) than matched controls. Using LDCs to increase live donation is a novel approach that has garnered widespread enthusiasm, including support from United Network for Organ Sharing.

Live Donor Champions (LDCs) as Instrumental Support for Transplant Candidates. Approaching potential donors is a daunting and overwhelming experience for Kidney Transplant (KT) candidates. Current educational programs address the medical aspects of dialysis, KT, and donation, but neglect the health communication skills to discuss transplantation and to spread awareness through their various social networks. While transplant candidates are hesitant to engage others in conversations about End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and live donation, friends, family members, or community members are eager to spread awareness and provide advocacy for the patient. In pilot studies, this intervention improved knowledge regarding LDKT and provided instrumental support to the transplant candidates. Understanding what factors are associated with the successful implementation of this program will enable its eventual dissemination at transplant centers nationwide ultimately improving nationwide education and awareness of LDKT. In order to successfully do so, a scientifically rigorous implementation study is necessary.

Conditions

End-stage Renal Disease

Keywords

Live Donor Kidney Transplant; Education; Advocacy; Live Donor

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Live Donor Champion

The Live Donor Champion program is the sole educational intervention for this trial. LDC consists of 6 monthly sessions of approx. 1 hour each. Each LDC session is led by a transplant physician or clinical coordinator. LDC sessions incorporate formal didactics, active-participant learning, personal stories, moderated group discussions, role-playing, and other skill-building exercises. LDC sessions are as follows: 1) education about ESRD, KT, and LDKT 2) communication skills building 3) Exploring social networks 4) sharing successful donor and recipient stories 5) encouraging candidate self-efficacy 6) Program Recap.

Group Type: OTHER

Live Donor Champion Program

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Even with adequate education of live donation, many KT candidates still feel ill equipped to ask others to consider donating. Friends and family are often eager to help and may not be able to serve as donors themselves, but might be able to provide substantial instrumental support. An LDC is a friend or family member who serves as an advocate for the candidate in their pursuit of live donation. The Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center has developed a 6-month program that provides education and advocacy training to waitlist candidates and their LDCs. The instrumental support provided by the LDC bridges a critical link between education and action.Using LDCs to increase live donation is a novel approach that has garnered widespread enthusiasm.

Interventions

Live Donor Champion Program

Even with adequate education of live donation, many KT candidates still feel ill equipped to ask others to consider donating. Friends and family are often eager to help and may not be able to serve as donors themselves, but might be able to provide substantial instrumental support. An LDC is a friend or family member who serves as an advocate for the candidate in their pursuit of live donation. The Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center has developed a 6-month program that provides education and advocacy training to waitlist candidates and their LDCs. The instrumental support provided by the LDC bridges a critical link between education and action.Using LDCs to increase live donation is a novel approach that has garnered widespread enthusiasm.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

LDC Program

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Kidney transplant candidates aged≥18 added to the waitlist in the last year with no potential live donors are eligible.
• If there is an individual willing to donate, but the candidate is unwilling to consider this option or this particular individual, the candidate is eligible for the trial and may still benefit from identification of new donors or increased comfort accepting donation from others.
• Participants at University or University of Alabama must speak English. Participants at Northwestern University must speak English or Spanish.

• aged≥18
• English-speaking
• Be a "Live Donor Champion" (a friend, family member or community member willing to advocate for the wait-listed patient).

• aged≥18
• English-speaking
• Performed tasks related to implementing the LDC program

Exclusion Criteria

• Candidates with live donors currently under evaluation for donation will be excluded.
• Those with a previous kidney transplant will be excluded

• <18, not English-speaking

• <18, not English-speaking, and no affiliation with implementing the LDC program

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 100 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Johns Hopkins University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Elizabeth King, MD PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Johns Hopkins University

Locations

Washington University in Saint Louis

St Louis, Missouri, United States

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

IRB00161951

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id