Peer volunteer living donor home education programme to engage African and Caribbean patients and their families in Living donation Kidney Transplantation ( LDKT)

The aim of the project is to improve access to living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) for black renal patients at Guy’s Hospital, London by using a model that combines black peer volunteers engaging with black patients and their families in their homes. The peer volunteers are typically people who have some experience of living donation, either as donors, potential donors or recipients of a deceased or living donor kidney transplant. The home- based element of the project offers a more relaxed environment to discuss the sensitive nature of living donation and gives easier access to family and friends.

Peer volunteers provide information, tools and resources that are culturally relevant, this type of home-based peer engagement empowers black patients with kidney failure to listen, talk and ask questions that pertain to their faith and culture. But most importantly the unique selling point of the project is that by using peer volunteers rather than healthcare professionals it helps to build trust and confidence, all these elements combined give black patients a better understanding of living donation and will help them to make informed decisions about organ donation and transplantation.

With this model of targeted cultural engagement in place at transplant or referring centres and dialysis units which support large numbers of black patients, it could help to increase the number of living donor enquiries and assessments resulting in more black patients having a living kidney transplant.