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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Policy
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1512852

Improving healthcare services for living kidney donors: an experience-based approach in the Netherlands

Provisionally accepted
Wim S. Sipma Wim S. Sipma 1*Marco Van Londen Marco Van Londen 2Annemieke Visser Annemieke Visser 3Margriet F. C. De Jong Margriet F. C. De Jong 2Kees (C.T.B.) Ahaus Kees (C.T.B.) Ahaus 1
  • 1 Department of Health Services Management & Organisation, School of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
  • 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands, Netherlands
  • 3 Department of Applied Health Research (TGO), University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Living kidney donors voluntarily donate one of their kidneys to someone suffering from endstage kidney disease. Transplantation is a life-saving opportunity for these patients and generally provides an increase in quality of life. A major goal of research and practice related to living kidney donation concerns the safety of the donor. In comparison, only limited research has been carried out on donor experiences of the donor journey in the full cycle of care. To gain further insight into this, we have performed an experience-based co-design (EBCD) study in a major transplant center in the Netherlands. EBCD is a research approach where professionals and patients share experiences with the purpose of improving the healthcare journey. We identified eleven areas for potential improvement: from intake, throughout surgery and hospitalization, to homecare and aftercare. Donors indicated the importance of person-specific information during the admission process, accurate communication with health professionals and attention to recovery after surgery.Nevertheless, no one regretted their donation, and the overall experience was positive. An important finding for professionals is that donors feel like 'normal' patients and want to be taken care of even though they are healthy. Just like other patients, they can be anxious before surgery and some may have concerns about recovery. Although this is a single-center study, the results should be relevant for all transplant centers that are interested in improving donor experiences. We concluded that the EBCD approach, when embedded in a local context, is a valuable tool for bringing patients' experiences to healthcare improvement.

    Keywords: co-design, patient engagement, EBCD, Living kidney donation, Kidney transplant, patient experience

    Received: 17 Oct 2024; Accepted: 06 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Sipma, Van Londen, Visser, De Jong and Ahaus. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wim S. Sipma, Department of Health Services Management & Organisation, School of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.