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To find living donors for kidney transplants, a pilot program turns to social networks
A pilot program using volunteer social media advocates has helped 3 of 15 patients find living kidney donors in Pennsylvania, addressing donation shortages for those with limited networks.
- This year, a 15-patient pilot began in May at three Pennsylvania hospitals pairing patients with volunteer `angel advocates` who use social media and storytelling to publicize needs.
- Patients' limited social contacts and severe illness have driven the need for outside help, as many dialysis patients like Fernando Moreno and Ahmad Collins lack the energy to find donors amid 90,000 on the transplant list and about 6,400 living kidney transplants last year.
- Early results show concrete matches and a completed transplant; two of five Temple patients found donors, and one UPMC-Harrisburg patient underwent surgery, organizers say.
- With more than $100,000 in grant support, the pilot aims to be a blueprint for wider use, and Becca Brown calls it potentially a game changer for transplant access.
- Living donor kidneys last longer and lower rejection risk, organizers say, and a North Carolina pilot last year matched all three patients, suggesting the Gift of Life Donor Program's model could snowball.
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26 Articles
26 Articles
Associated Press News+24 Reposted by 24 other sources
To find living donors for kidney transplants, a pilot program turns to social networks
Fernando Moreno has been waiting for a kidney transplant for about two years. His Philadelphia hospital connected him with a pilot project called the Great Social Experiment.
·United States
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Total News Sources26
Leaning Left6Leaning Right2Center14Last UpdatedBias Distribution64% Center
Bias Distribution
- 64% of the sources are Center
64% Center
L 27%
C 64%
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