During this episode of This Thing Called Life, host Andi Johnson continues the series on the full donation process from beginning to end; If you have missed the previous episodes in this series, you are encouraged to go back and listen to get the full picture. Today Andi speaks with Jen Malof, who is a Family Services Coordinator. Tune in.
Episode Highlights:
Andi reviews the speakers in this series and the collaborative process of the organ donation process.
Jen Malof has been with Life Center for just over a year. Andi ex...
During this episode of This Thing Called Life, host Andi Johnson continues the series on the full donation process from beginning to end; If you have missed the previous episodes in this series, you are encouraged to go back and listen to get the full picture. Today Andi speaks with Jen Malof, who is a Family Services Coordinator. Tune in.
Episode Highlights:
- Andi reviews the speakers in this series and the collaborative process of the organ donation process.
- Jen Malof has been with Life Center for just over a year. Andi explains how the Family Services Coordinators are the third critical piece in the donation cycle.
- What does a Family Services Coordinator do to facilitate donation?
- Andi asks Jen what led her into this field.
- Jen was looking to do something that felt larger than myself and helped other people, and working on a team.
- What is the training and background needed for someone who is a Family Services Coordinator?
- Jen shares about the variety of backgrounds that make up the current team they have.
- Jen explains how they set realistic expectations in the interview process and also shares that it is a very supportive culture.
- Family Service Coordinators are on call a certain number of times. Jen explains how it works.
- Andi and Jen discuss the unique dynamic of the role of Family Service Coordinator.
- It all begins with the family. You are a nurturer as a Family Service Coordinator. Jen explains the importance of the team members noting and setting up the next one who will carry on with the family in a successful way.
- Andi asks Jen what she considers to be the most challenging part of her role.
- There are office responsibilities, trainings, and on call for the position.
- Donation actually brings meaning and something positive to the donor families; In a way it brings some peace, comfort, and benefit to them. Jen explains how they see and experience that from the up close relationship with the families.
- There is extreme caution and care with analyzing the health of a potential gift and never move forward unless it is healthy enough for recovery. In rare cases, a dcotor can be in surgery and realize the organ is not viable. Jen explains the heartbreak and challenge that is.
- Organ donors all have after care no matter what the circumstance.
- Andi asks Jen what is most rewarding about her job and Jen says she doesn’t have enough time to share all of the ways.
- What is the honor walk in honor of the donor?
- There are other memory making support services; Jen shares about them.
- What is the skill set of a Family Service Coordinator? There is a lot of information to communicate in real time and a lot of non-verbal skills as well.
- Families have to receive a lot of stats and information and there is a lot of paperwork and recording that has to take place also.
- Jen shares that she is a long time breast cancer survivor and how her life experiences help her relate to the families she works with.
- For more information, check out https://aopo.org/
3 Key Points:
- The organ donation process begins with a person who designated themselves to be a donor or their family who made the decision for that individual to be a donor.This life saving and life-changing gift all begins with that and is a collaborative process from start to finish.
- Family Service Coordinators fulfill the role of being the main point of contact for that family whose loved one has either chosen to be a donor or if that family makes that decision to move ahead with donation: to support them , to educate them, to answer their questions, adn to be with them throughout the entire process.
- Donation actually brings meaning and something positive to the donor families; In a way it brings some peace, comfort, and benefit to them. Jen explains how they see and experience that from the up close relationship with the families.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter (website) (Facebook) (Instagram) (YouTube) (Twitter)
- Andi Johnson (website) (LinkedIn)
- https://aopo.org/
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