Living with a foreign organ: counselling needs of living liver transplant recipients

Abstract

Purpose: Liver transplantation can be a lifesaving option for people with acute/chronic liver failure. Although liver transplantation has positive outcomes, the recipients experience many physical, psychological and social problems. It is of great importance to satisfy their needs for counselling so that they can overcome these problems. The aim of the study was to describe the counselling needs of living liver transplant recipients. Materials and Methods: A descriptive qualitative research design was used. The study was conducted between November 2012 and December 2012. In-depth interviews were performed with sixteen participants who had experiences of living liver transplantation. Data were analyzed with inductive content analysis. Results: The liver transplant recipients' counselling needs were categorized into two main themes: pretransplantation period counselling needs'' and posttransplant period counselling needs''. Subthemes were also identified and described. The first main theme had three subthemes (causes and symptoms of liver failure, treatment process, living donors) and the second main theme had four subthemes (medications used, possible complications, sexuality and body image and life after transplantation). Conclusions: The results indicate that the living liver transplant recipients' currently have insufficient knowledge about transplantation periods and they need counselling.