The ethics of promoting living kidney donation using nonargumentative influence:

[Clark]

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajt.13972/abstract

Personal Viewpoint
The ethics of promoting living kidney donation using nonargumentative influence: applications, concerns, and future directions
      Matthew B. Allen,   
 Peter P. Reese
 
      Accepted manuscript online: 20 July 2016
      DOI: 10.1111/ajt.13972

AJT
This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1111/ajt.13972

Abstract
Recommendations from the 2014 Consensus Conference on Best Practices in Living Kidney Donation reflect increasing attention to overcoming barriers to donation as a means of expanding access to living donor kidney transplantation. “High priority” initiatives include empowering transplant candidates and their loved ones in their search for a living kidney donor. Transplant programs are assuming an unprecedented role as facilitators of patients’ solicitation for donors, and nonprofits are promoting living kidney donation in the community. New strategies to promote living kidney donation incorporate “nonargumentative” forms of influence (i.e., approaches to shaping behavior that do not attempt to persuade through reason) such as appeals to emotion, messenger effects, and social norms. These approaches have raised ethical concerns in other settings, but have received little attention in the transplantation literature despite their increasing relevance. Previous work on using nonargumentative influence to shape patient behavior has highlighted implications for 1) the relationship between influencer and influenced and 2) patient autonomy. We argue that using nonargumentative influence to promote LKD is a promising strategy that can be compatible with ethical standards. We also outline potential concerns and solutions to be implemented in practice.