Heart or liver-transplantation in adolescents.: Results of interviews with experts

The following paper presents the results of interviews with transplant experts. Objective: What counseling concepts do experts use? How do they describe the quality of life following the: transplantation? How do they judge thr psychosocial development of transplanted adolescents? Method: Four physicians and two psychologists, all working in the field of heart or liver transplantation, were Interviewed, The evaluation was conducted according to Mayring's Qualitative Content Analysis Results. Counseling adolescent patients in the face of a transplantation is described as very difficult, as it is hard to estimate the extent to which they can anticipate the implications of surgery, Although from a medical point of view the quality of life improves. restrictions concerning psychosocial development persist. The relationship between the physician and the patient in the field of transplantation appears to be extraordinarily close, Discussion: It became clear that the experts are highly interested in psychological research concerning transplantation in adolescents and that they prefer the use of qualitative methods in quality-of-life research. Additionally, the results stress the need for the development of psychological counseling concepts for this group of patients.