The lived experience of individuals after renal transplant

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to understand the living experience of individuals after renal transplant from living donors. To achieve this, open-ended questions were developed to collect data from semi-structured interviews with participants. The main themes of discussion during the interviews were quality of life, relationships with the donor, embodiment, and psychosocial aspects. The qualitative approach has been used to analyse the data through IPA, in order to understand the meaning of the living experience after renal transplant. Five informants have participated in this study, three males and two females, in the age range 36-65 years old. All informants have undergone renal transplant from a living donor, who were in a close relationship to them. One informant had experienced two transplants. Five main themes have emerged from the narratives. The pre-transplant phase was an important aspect to discuss as it was used as build-up on the transplant experience. Furthermore, the living experience after renal transplant was characterised by quality of life, relationships including between the donor and recipient, embodiment, and survival. The psychosocial aspect from these themes was analysed, which results in improved living experience after renal transplant, however, this is not the same for other people who did not have a renal transplant.