Department of Rural Health, Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Aust J Rural Health. 2023 Oct;31(5):866-877. doi: 10.1111/ajr.13008. Epub 2023 Jun 19.
A growing body of research has examined the physical, psychological, social and financial impacts of living kidney donation. However, little is known about the unique experiences or additional burdens faced by living donors from regional or remote locations.
To explore the experiences of living kidney donors who live outside metropolitan centres and to determine how support services could be orientated to better meet their unique needs.
DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Seventeen living kidney donors participated in semistructured telephone interviews. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Eight themes were identified: (1) donor's emotional well-being is influenced by the recipient's outcome, (2) varied levels of access to medical support and other important services in rural areas, (3) travel takes a toll on time, finances and well-being, (4) varied level of financial impact, (5) medical, emotional and social challenges, (6) both lay and health professional support is valued, (7) varied levels of knowledge and experiences accessing information and (8) a worthwhile experience overall.
Despite many challenges, and travel adding to the complexity, rural living kidney donors generally consider it to be a worthwhile experience. The provision of additional emotional, practical and educational support would be welcomed by this group.
越来越多的研究考察了活体肾脏捐献者在生理、心理、社会和经济方面的影响。然而，对于来自偏远地区的活体捐献者的独特经历或额外负担知之甚少。
探讨居住在大都市中心以外的活体肾脏捐献者的经历，并确定支持服务如何能够更好地满足他们的独特需求。
设计/环境/参与者：17 名活体肾脏捐献者参加了半结构化电话访谈。使用主题分析对定性数据进行分析。
确定了 8 个主题：（1）供体的情绪健康受受者结果的影响，（2）农村地区获得医疗支持和其他重要服务的程度不同，（3）旅行耗费时间、金钱和健康，（4）经济影响程度不同，（5）医疗、情绪和社会挑战，（6）社会支持和卫生专业人员支持都很有价值，（7）获取信息的知识和经验程度不同，（8）总体而言是一次有价值的经历。
尽管存在许多挑战，且旅行增加了复杂性，但农村活体肾脏捐献者普遍认为这是一次有价值的经历。这一群体欢迎提供额外的情感、实际和教育支持。
