Cessation of content curation via the Scoop.it platform

As alluded to in a previous post, one of my advocacy roles in the online space had involved content curation via the Scoop.it platform - www.scoop.it mainly pertaining to the topics of organ donation and organ transplantation.

However nothing in the online space remains static from year to year (think Facebook and the Cambridge Analytica story in 2018). Hence it can be expected that the developers and/or business owners of the various social media platforms will introduce changes on a regular basis. In addition individual users of social media platforms have to balance the rewards of using any particular online platform versus the risks and costs.

Hence from April 2018 how I go about my various advocacy roles in the online space will evolve.

The following changes will now occur-

A) Cessation of use of the Scoop.it platform predominantly due to the increasing charges being levelled by the owners for the same degree of functionality. This no doubt partly reflects the success of pitching this particular tool to users in the online space who are heavy users of content curation for specific purposes.

This means there will be no more new posts onto either of the following two sites-

            1) Organ Donation Transplant Matters www.scoop.it/t/organ-donation-transplant-matters

            2) Organ Donation Transplant Matters Resources www.scoop.it/t/organ-donation-transplant-matters-resources

B) Greater emphasis on the use of the second Twitter Handle @ODT_M https://twitter.com/ODT_M for pushing out content specifically on organ donation and transplantation

C) Ongoing use of Google+ and Linked In for advocacy purposes

D) An ongoing search for another content curation tool which is fit for purpose for this blogger

Decided about organ and tissue donation? - DonateLife Australia Video

This well put together video has been produced in order to inform Australians of the importance of organ and tissue donation and what is required to ensure that as many people as possible can then benefit

Organ Donation: Three essential 'A's.

You may notice that the postings on to this site mainly provide information on 3 topics - organ donation, organ transplantation and use of social media. So what would you say it you were told that there are important common messages contained within these topics? What does this represent? Well it comes down to three important words all beginning with ‘A’.

A is for Awareness, a term used frequently over the last 10-20 years for various campaigns promoting organ donation around the world. So do you think that having lots of ‘Awareness’ leads to higher organ donor rates? What would you say if you were told that the country with the highest organ donor rate in the world-Spain- does not run ‘awareness’ campaigns? Can you say that you or your family are truly aware of the importance of organ donation or what is involved? How about your friends or work colleagues? What steps have you taken to find out more about organ donation even though you may be ‘aware’ of its importance? This is where one other word beginning with ‘A’ becomes important.

A is for Action, a term used when individuals or organisations take steps to convert their ‘Awareness’ of a problem or issue into steps that lead to real change and hence results. Without taking action ‘Awareness’ on its own will not achieve any lasting impact. Probably the greatest example of awareness not leading to appropriate action for health is the world-wide obesity epidemic. Despite clear documentation of an increasing problem for e.g. CDC statistics, numerous campaigns via both media and professional organisations including, reports from the Institute of Medicine, the problem continues. You can view an Obesity info graphic from the Australian Science Media Centre which outlines the projected rates of obesity in that country if action is or is not taken.

So what do you need to do to take action on organ donation? Well first you need to find out the facts and there are a number of good web sites which include Organdonor.gov, United Kingdom NHS Then you need to talk to your family. You can also note your decision via your Facebook timeline if you wish. If you belong to an organisation with an interest in organ donation, then you will be combining Awareness with Action which are two essential components as depicted in order to help form a platform for leading and driving change

A is for Advocacy, a term used to signal the action being taken by individuals, groups or organisations who want change [or reform] to occur, including within the health care system and at policy level, for the barriers to organ donation to be overcome.



Three essential A's required for change

So there you have it, the 3 A’s as they relate to organ donation as depicted above, which is of enormous importance for organ transplantation. You cannot have one without the other two. As for social media, well this is now a conduit via which relevant information [for both Awareness and Action] is being relayed both by individuals and organisations with an Advocacy role. This is in order to facilitate the changes that are required in many countries to ensure that the maximum benefits of organ donation are realised.

Another Transplant Surgeon conversation: Waiting for an organ transplant

When a transplant surgeon is holding a conversation with a patient who requires an organ transplant, there is one topic that usually attracts more questions. It is the timing of that all important phone call that will be made to the patient with the offer of the donor organ. Can you imagine what it must be like to be listed for a transplant and waiting for that call day after day, week after week?

The conversation often goes like this-
Q: So doctor, when will I get the phone call [about the donor organ being available]?
A: You can get the call any time of the day or night, week day or weekend. So even in the middle of the night it is important to answer the phone.
Q: Why is that?
A: Well, first because the deceased organ donors can be identified at any time in the hospitals. Second, there is a need to track down all of the potential recipients of the organs from each donor, as there are time limits once the organ donation process is underway.
Q: So when I receive the call, do I need to hurry to hospital?
A: Yes, you do need to make your way to hospital reasonably quickly, but also safely. This is so you can be prepared for the surgery. If you live a long distance from hospital, special arrangements may need to be made to get you there in time.
Q: After I get to hospital, when do I know the transplant is definitely going ahead?
A: Once the organ you require has been surgically retrieved from the donor and is cleared to be suitable for transplant, you will be told. The organ often also has to be transported to the hospital as well.

Explaining what is actually involved in the process for obtaining the organ from the organ donor through to commencing the actual transplant surgical procedure is important. The journey to a transplant can be tough on potential recipients and their loved ones. Some descriptions of this journey can be obtained via the Organtransplants web site.

It takes good co-ordination for the available organs from every deceased donor to be successfully transplanted. Time is often of the essence once the organs have been surgically removed from the donor, due to limits on storage times of the organs. In many countries this co-ordination is achieved by agencies and or networks of professionals. Further information on this part of the process can be obtained via professional sources including from the United States and the United Kingdom

Some other general web sites which provide information are-
Transplant Living , OrganTransplants Understanding , United Kingdom
If you or a loved one are waiting for an organ transplant, it is best to seek advice from the professionals in the Transplant Programme that you are in contact with.

An important task for Transplant surgeons. Helping piece together the picture for every donor organ.

Transplantation involves the surgical removal of the organ(s) from a donor-who is either living or deceased- and then surgically implanting each precious organ into the designated recipient.

Do you know that there are many steps in the organ donation process that are all critical for deciding on whether or not a donor's organ(s) can go on to be transplanted? Transplant surgeons are very much involved in this process of assessing the suitability of the donor organs for transplantation.

Are you aware of instances where individuals were unable to be live kidney donors? Do you know of occasions where organ donation was not able to go ahead from a potential deceased donor (i.e.after death) in hospital, due to there being medical concerns?

Being able to assess each organ donor for their 'medical suitability' to donate one or more organs is one of the essential parts of the downstream transplant process. Although general information on organ donation is available via the Internet for eg, this website from the United States of America more specific information on the In's and out's of organ donation, may not be  easily located unless you know where to find it, eg from the United Kingdom

There are many pieces of information (see below image), that have to be obtained for each and every organ donor as to whether they are suitable to donate an organ (as a live donor) or multiple organs(after death). This whole process is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, with the final two pieces (bottom right hand of the image), made up of what the surgeons discover at the time of the actual organ retrieval surgery. As most of the pieces of the jigsaw are put together prior to the retrieval surgery, this helps explain why not all donors proceed to the operating room. However, information obtained by surgeons during the retrieval surgery is often critical to the final decision as to whether or not a particular organ can be actually used for transplantation.

Legend- DCD: Donation after Cardio-Circulatory Death; DBD: Donation after Brain Death; NAT: Nucleic Acid Testing

Of note as rates of organ donation do vary between countries as outlined in this report from the WHO Transplant observatory particularly for deceased donors, it is important to place this information into the context of where you live. However, as you can see transplant surgeons are very much involved in the assessing of the donor organs for transplantation!

Image designed by Deb Verran 2012: acknowledgement Presentation magazine