Lara S. Moretti, LSW, CT has presented to transplant centers, schools and various professional groups about donation and transplantation in her role as Manager, Family Support Services for Gift of Life Donor Program in Philadelphia, PA. Lara has been with Gift of Life since 2003. Lara has presented at NATCO, TRIO (Transplant Recipients International Organization), Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, Transplant Games of America, Society for Transplant Social Workers, UNOS and for the Gift of Life Institute. Approximately five times a year, she leads a didactic, “Communicating with Grieving Families” to all new staff at her OPO. She obtained her BS in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL and her MS in Social Work from Columbia University in New York.
A common experience for many post-transplant recipients is survivor guilt; “my organ donor had to die in order for me to live”. What these recipients fail to realize, however, is that donor families want their organ recipients to embrace the gift, live a full life and not feel guilty. Without personal donation experience, or knowledge of an actual donor family, transplant professionals are often unable to share stories from the donor family perspective to help counsel and support recipients who express these feelings of guilt. In addition, grief education and the awareness of survivor’s guilt is often incomplete among health professionals. Join us as we explore several contemporary grief models and illuminate how donation can have a beneficial effect on the grief process.