U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America
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U.S. Department of Health & Human Services |
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Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America |
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Sept. 24, 1999 |
Contact: | HRSA Press Office (301) 443-3376 |
"These projects will help us break new ground in organ donation," said Secretary Shalala. "Most people support the idea of donation, but only about 50 percent of families and others consent to donation of their loved one's organs when asked. These grants will help us develop new strategies encouraging more families to agree to donation."
These awards are part of the Clinton Administration's National Organ and Tissue Donation Initiative, a comprehensive plan targeting the donor shortage launched by Vice President Gore and Secretary Shalala on Dec.17, 1997. The program is administered by HHS= Health Resources and Services Administration's Division of Transplantation in the Office of Special Programs.
Among the many innovative strategies, the 18 projects include efforts to use the Internet for notifying families of an individual's desire to donate; to increase minority donations; to test donor education strategies in the work place, during end-of-life planning, and with drivers license renewals; and to improve the ability of health professionals to effectively handle end-of-life discussions and care. Evaluation is a critical element of this grant program. Grantees are required to be part of a consortium consisting of at least one agency with transplant experience and one with research expertise. Grantees will evaluate the effectiveness of new or existing strategies based on how well they work in increasing organ procurement, improving consent rates for organ donation, and/or increasing the number of individuals who declare their intent to donate and notify their families of their wishes.
"These projects combine creative ideas with good evaluations so we will know where to place future emphasis," said HRSA Administrator Claude Earl Fox, M.D., M.P.H. "Transplantation offers patients an increasingly successful treatment for organ-related diseases. Now we must ensure that organ donations increase to give more people the benefit of this life-saving and life-enhancing procedure."
The grants are awarded to stimulate organ and tissue donation to help the more than 65,000 people on the national transplant waiting list. Each year, only about 5,500 deaths in the United States result in organ donation, but the estimated potential number of donors per year ranges from 8,000 to 15,000. More than 4,000 patients awaiting a transplant die each year--some 12 to 13 each day--because of the critical shortage of transplantable organs.
HRSA is the lead HHS agency responsible for Federal oversight of the Nation's Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. HRSA's Division of Transplantation developed this grant program in collaboration with the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.
For more information on the grant program or on organ donation visit the national initiative's dedicated Web site at www.organdonor.gov.
The list of grantees follows:
FY 1999 Extramural Support Program
|
Grantee |
One-year Award |
Three-year Award |
|
Transplantation Society of Michigan/TransWeb, Ann Arbor, Mich. An existing transplant education Internet site will be expanded with a new path on the donor family�s view of organ donation to encourage donor registration. A specially-designed electronic greeting card will notify family members of the registrant�s desire to donate. Contact: Eleanor Jones, (734) 998-7314. |
$328,970 |
$895,699 |
|
Education Development Center/New England Organ Bank, Newton, Mass. The grantee will collaborate with hospitals in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire to increase health professionals� comfort and skills in end-of-life care, discussions about death and dying, and family support to improve the donation request process. Contact: Mildred Z. Solomon, (617) 969-7100, x2404. |
408,611 |
937,892 |
|
National Kidney Foundation, New York City A program to use funeral pre-planning activities for the introduction of family discussions about donation will be implemented and evaluated. Contact: Catherine Paykin, M.S.S.W., (212) 889-2210, x144. |
439,413 |
439,413 |
|
South-East Organ Procurement Foundation, Richmond, Va. Sixteen organ procurement organizations will work to improve family donation consent rates by training procurement coordinators to match donation requests with a family�s readiness to donate. Contact: Thomas A. Armata, (804) 323-9895. |
465,242 |
1,212,883 |
|
California Transplant Donor Network, San Francisco Building on success with increasing Hispanic community support for donation, the grantee will facilitate training programs sensitive to cultural diversities to improve donation support among African Americans and Asians in Northern California. Contact: Eugene Osborne, R.N., M.A., (559) 226-9002. |
458,996 |
1,374,620 |
|
Regional Organ Bank of Illinois, Chicago Strategies, including an ethnically sensitive media campaign, will encourage African-Americans to join the state organ donor registry and discuss their desires with families. Contact: Martin F. Mozes, M.D., (312) 803-7626, x120. |
233,429 |
366,584 |
|
Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates, Louisville, Ky. In collaboration with the United Parcel Service, the grantee will study the impact of a work-place donor education program as a model for corporate education programs nationwide. Contact: Jenny Miller, (606) 278-3492. |
127,349 |
127,349 |
|
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore This multidisciplinary project with physicians, nurses, hospital clergy and organ procurement coordinators will implement and evaluate a family-centered program focusing on end-of-life decision making and organ donation discussions. Contact: Michael A. Williams, M.D., (410) 614-3460. |
394,840 |
929,043 |
|
Emory University/LifeLink of Georgia, Atlanta Four Georgia hospitals will replicate Emory University Hospital's successful donation program, "Renaissance Project," which enhanced family support practices and organ donations. Contact: Jennie P. Perryman, R.N., Ph.D., (404) 712-4444. |
212,388 |
606,716 |
|
LifeGift Organ Donation Center, Houston Hospitals in Detroit, Chicago, Seattle and Houston with untapped donor potential will replicate LifeGift's successful pilot program which increased Houston-area organ donations by placing "in house procurement coordinators" in two Level 1 trauma centers. Contact: Samuel M. Holtzman, (713) 523-4438. |
202,637 |
606,270 |
|
LifeGift Organ Donation Center, Houston An intensive education and training program targeting African American religious and spiritual leaders in Harris County, Texas, intends to increase family donation discussions and minority community support. Contact: Samuel M. Holtzman, (713) 523-4438. |
186,131 |
595,342 |
|
Golden State Donor Services, Sacramento, Calif. An ethnically sensitive media campaign aims to reverse the declining rate of donation consent among Sacramento area Hispanic families. Contact: Tracy Bryan, (916) 567-1600. |
191,843 |
444,510 |
|
Oklahoma Organ Sharing Network, Oklahoma City A curriculum will be designed to introduce organ and tissue donation and transplantation to elementary and secondary school students to increase their commitment to donation. Contact: Diane Lewis, (405) 840-5551. |
198,288 |
770,664 |
|
Albany Medical College/The Center for Donation and Transplant, Albany, N.Y. A volunteer program to teach mothers of organ donors to counsel potential donor families about donation will be replicated and evaluated. Contact: Frank Taft, (518) 262-5606. |
272,504 |
783,882 |
|
Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency, Metairie, La. Grantee will develop convenient, one-stop ATM-like kiosks in public venues, where individuals can renew their driver's licenses and record their wishes on organ donation at the same time. Contact: Louise M. Jacobbi, (504) 837-3355. |
409,706 |
1,049,758 |
|
Upstate New York Transplant Services, Buffalo, N.Y. Medical students and residents and African American community educators will be trained to develop culturally sensitive strategies for approaching and educating African Americans about donation to increase donor registration and family discussions. Contact: Mark Simon, (716) 853-6667. |
281,917 |
810,330 |
|
Donor Network of Arizona, Phoenix This project plans to increase donation consent rates among Hispanic families through community, media, and requester outreach to increase donor awareness and family discussions. Contact: Sara Pace Jones, (602) 222-2200. |
238,143 |
880,937 |
|
Howard University, Washington, D.C. This project seeks to increase donor registration among young people when obtaining driver's licenses by integrating materials into existing driver's education curriculum that will increase family discussion on organ donations, raise positive consent rates and increase youth awareness of organ donation needs. Contact: Gary Harris, Ph.D., (202) 806-5567. |
145,914 |
464,163 |
|
TOTAL |
$5,196,321 |
$13,296,055 |