Organ donation following medical assistance in dying, Part II: a scoping review of existing processes and procedures.
The objective of this review was to collate and summarize the current literature on what is known about organ donation following medical assistance in dying (MAiD). For this second part of a 2-part scoping review, the focus is on the existing procedures and processes for organ donation following MAiD.
Organ donation following MAiD is a novel and contentious issue worldwide. To give direction for future research and initiatives, a comprehensive understanding of the available evidence of existing procedures and processes for organ donation following MAiD is needed.
For this review, the population of interest included all individuals who underwent organ donation following MAiD; the concept was defined as procedures and processes involved in organ donation after MAiD; and the context was reports of organ donation following MAiD at home or in any health care setting worldwide. We considered quantitative and qualitative studies, text and opinion papers, gray literature, and unpublished material provided by stakeholders.
This scoping review was conducted in line with JBI methodology. Published studies were retrieved from MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), PsycINFO (Ovid), Web of Science Core Collection, and Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost). Gray and unpublished literature included reports from websites and organ donation organizations in Canada, Belgium, and The Netherlands. Two independent reviewers screened all reports (both title and abstract, and full text) against the predetermined inclusion criteria, extracted data, and completed a content analysis. Any disagreements between the 2 reviewers were resolved through discussion or with another reviewer.
We included 121 documents across parts I and II, and we report on 107 documents in this second part. The majority of the 107 documents were discussion papers, published in English, and in Canada from 2019 to 2021. In the content analysis, we identified 5 major categories regarding existing procedures and processes of organ donation following MAiD: i) clinical pathways for organ donation following MAiD; ii) organ donation following MAiD and the donor; iii) clinical practice tools for organ donation following MAiD; iv) education and support for health care providers involved in organ donation following MAiD; and v) health care providers' roles and perceptions during organ donation following MAiD.
Findings from this review can be used to provide support and guidance for improvements in procedures and processes, as well as a rich resource for countries currently planning to establish programs for organ donation after MAiD.
Silva E Silva V
,Silva AR
,Rochon A
,Lotherington K
,Hornby L
,Wind T
,Bollen J
,Wilson LC
,Sarti AJ
,Dhanani S
... -
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Organ donation following medical assistance in dying, Part I: a scoping review of legal and ethical aspects.
The objective of this review was to collate and summarize the current literature on what is known about organ donation following medical assistance in dying (MAiD). Additionally, for this first part of a 2-part scoping review, the focus is on legal and ethical considerations regarding organ donation following MAiD.
Organ donation following MAiD is a relatively new procedure that has sparked much debate and discussion. A comprehensive investigation into the legal and ethical aspects related to organ donation following MAiD is needed to inform the development of safe and ethical practices.
In this review, we included documents that investigated legal and/or ethical issues related to individuals who underwent organ donation following MAiD in any setting (eg, hospital or home) worldwide. We considered quantitative and qualitative studies, text and opinion papers, gray literature, and unpublished material provided by stakeholders.
This scoping review followed JBI methodology. Published studies were retrieved from databases, including MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), PsycINFO (Ovid), Web of Science Core Collection, and Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost). Gray and unpublished literature included reports from organ donation organizations in Canada, The Netherlands, and Belgium. Two independent reviewers screened all reports (both by title and abstract and by full text) against the inclusion criteria, extracted data, and completed a content analysis. Disagreements between the 2 reviewers were resolved through discussions among the reviewers and the lead reviewer.
We included 121 documents for parts I and II of our scoping review, 89 of which are included in part I. The majority of the 89 documents were discussion papers published in English and in Canada from 2019 to 2021. In the content analysis, we identified 4 major categories regarding ethical and legal aspects of organ donation following MAiD: i) legal definitions, legislation, and guidelines; ii) ethics, dilemmas, and consensus; iii) consent and objection; and iv) public perceptions. We identified the main legislation regulating the practices of organ donation following MAiD in countries where both procedures are permitted, the many ethical debates surrounding this topic (eg, eligibility criteria for organ donation and MAiD, disclosure of donors' and recipients' information, directed organ donation, death determination in organ donation following MAiD, ethical safeguards for organ donation following MAiD), as well as the public perceptions of this process.
Organ donation following MAiD has raised many legal and ethical concerns regarding establishing safeguards to protect patients and families. Despite the ongoing debates around the risks and benefits of this combined procedure, when patients who request MAiD want to donate their organs, this option can help fulfill their last wishes and diminish their suffering, which should be the main reasons to offer organ donation following MAiD.
Silva E Silva V
,Silva AR
,Rochon A
,Lotherington K
,Hornby L
,Wind T
,Bollen J
,Wilson LC
,Sarti AJ
,Dhanani S
... -
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Outcomes from organ donation following medical assistance in dying: A scoping review.
To collate and summarize the current international literature on the transplant recipient outcomes of organs from Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) donors, as well as the actual and potential impact of organ donation following MAiD on the donation and transplantation system.
The provision of organ donation following MAiD can impact the donation and transplantation system, as well as potential recipients of organs from the MAiD donor, therefore a comprehensive understanding of the potential and actual impact of organ donation after MAiD on the donation and transplantation systems is needed.
Scoping review using the JBI framework.
We searched for published (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Academic Search Complete), and unpublished literature (organ donation organization websites worldwide). Included references discussed the actual and potential impact of organ donation following MAiD on the donation and transplantation system. All references were screened, extracted and analysed by two independent reviewers.
We included 78 references in this review and our finding were summarized across three categories: (1) Impact in the donor pool: (2) statistics on organ donation following MAiD; and (3) potential and actual impact of MAiD on the donation and transplant system.
The potential impact of the MAiD donor on the transplant waiting list is relatively small as this process is still rare, however, due to the current organ shortage worldwide the contribution of this procedure should not be disregarded. Additionally, despite being limited, the existing research provided scanty evidence that organs retrieved from MAiD donors are associated with satisfactory graft function and survival rates and that outcomes from transplant recipients are comparable to those of organs from donation following brain death and may be better than those of organs from other types of donation after circulatory determined death. Still, further studies are required for comprehensive and reliable evidence.
Silva E Silva V
,Silva A
,Rochon A
,Lotherington K
,Hornby L
,Wind T
,Bollen J
,Wilson LC
,Sarti AJ
,Dhanani S
... -
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