Monitor on Psychology - December 2011 - (Page 78)

Psychologists have found, however, that many patients — particularly minorities — find it overwhelming to talk to their families about living organ donation and therefore never discuss the possibility with them. These patients may not know how to bring up the topic, or might fear the answer will be no. Others may be too concerned about risking a family member’s health or worried about disappointing the donor if the organ fails, Dew says. Several psychologists are helping patients get around those concerns. In a 2007 randomized, controlled trial with 132 end-stage renal disease patients, for example, researchers found that patients who participated in a home-based educational program that fostered family decision-making and discussion about living donation increased patients’ willingness to discuss living donation with other people. The intervention also led to a higher number of living donor inquiries to the transplant program, more donor evaluations and more living donor transplants than a conventional clinicbased educational intervention that included only the patient and an accompanying family member. The researchers, led by James Rodrigue, PhD, a clinical psychologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, say the informal setting and family-based discussions with a trained health educator made patients and their families feel more comfortable about asking questions and sharing their concerns about donation. (American Journal of Transplantation, Vol. 7, No. 2) In an effort to help minorities better understand living donation, Emory University social psychologist Kimberly Jacob Arriola, PhD, is developing culturally sensitive educational materials for black end-stage renal disease patients that improve their understanding of living donor transplant as a treatment option. “The hope is to be able to increase their knowledge about living donation but also to boost confidence in their ability to have a conversation with their friends and family about it,” Arriola says. Reaching patients where they are Yet before a patient can even approach family about considering evaluation for a living donation, medical professionals must make it clear that transplantation is even an option. A lack of information, coupled with a fear of surgery, often causes eligible patients to pass up a transplant evaluation — a step that’s required to get on the nation’s waiting list, says Amy Waterman, PhD, a health psychologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Her research has also shown that kidney failure patients on dialysis are often so overwhelmed by the lifestyle changes they’ll need to make for dialysis treatment that they’re given CE CREDITS NOW ONLINE More than 100 hours of CE Sessions were videotaped at the APA Convention and are now online. These digital video recordings include • synchronized, downloadable PowerPoint slides • a wide range of professional and scientific topics • CE credits using a new digital monitoring system; no CE tests required! Individual programs $25 (APA Members) • $35 (Nonmembers) Bundle package of 10 CE Session Recordings $200 (APA Members) • $250 (Nonmembers) To see the full range of CE sessions available and to purchase programs, visit http://apa.bizvision.com Questions? Call 800-374-2721, ext. 5991 (option 3), or e-mail cpe@apa.org. EXTEND YOUR CONVENTION EXPERIENCE! 78 Monitor on psychology • DeceMber 2011 http://apa.bizvision.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - December 2011

Monitor on Psychology - December 2011
Letters
President’s Column
Contents
From the CEO
Willpower Pioneer Wins $100,000 Grawemeyer Prize
Single-Sex Schooling Called Into Question by Prominent Researchers
Maternal Depression Stunts Childhood Growth, Research Suggests
For Boys, Sharing May Seem Like a Waste of Time
Good News for Postdoc Applicants
In Brief
Treatment Guideline Development Now Under Way
Government Relations Update
Psychologist Named Va Mental Health Chief
The Limits of Eyewitness Testimony
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
Time Capsule
Deconstructing Suicide
Questionnaire
A Focus on Interdisciplinarity
A Time of ‘Enormous Change’
The Science Behind Team Science
Good Science Requires Good Conflict
A New Paradigm of Care
Speaking of Education
Science Directions
New Labels, New Attitudes?
Psychologist Profile
Early Career Psychology
Unintended Consequences
Better Options for Troubled Teens
Saving Lives, One Organ at a Time
New Journal Editors
APA News
Division Spotlight
Guidelines for the Conduct of President-Elect Nominations and Elections
American Psychological Foundation
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - December 2011