Learn about organ donation at the end of life and how to have conversations about it and other difficult topics.
My guest Dr. Toby Campbell is a Professor of Medicine, Thoracic Oncologist, and Palliative Care Physician who is also a writer and podcaster. He is currently writing A Doctor’s Guide to Hard Conversations and created the Extraordinary Conversations Podcast, which explores the pivotal discussions that arise around organ donation and transplantation–and event at the end of one life that helps prolong another life. He discusses these challenging conversations and how they might inform other situations when we need to talk about a difficult subject. Learn more at the website:
extraordinaryconversationspodcast.com
This episode includes:
- How Toby’s desire to practice “slow medicine” led to his interest in oncology and palliative care
- Challenges faced by families in organ donation situations
- Recognizing that some healthcare decisions are more for the future than for the present moment
- How the dying process differs when organs are being donated
- Rituals that might occur in the setting of organ donation
- Why our feelings about organ donation need to be discussed as part of our end-of-life planning
- How organ donation can end up helping donor families with their grief
- Tips for having difficult conversations including building rapport, responding to emotion, eliciting values and priorities
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