The Experience of Heart Transplant as a Young Adult

Abstract

Purpose End stage heart failure and heart transplant present numerous challenges for individuals, but the question of managing these at different stages of the life cycle has been largely overlooked. Young adulthood is proposed as a time of continuing identity, relationship and career development, presenting additional challenges for those requiring heart transplants during this stage. Young adults also face higher likelihood of organ rejection following transplant. In the context of limited prior research, the aim of this study was to explore the experience of heart transplant in nine young adults (aged 19-30) across three transplant services. Methods and Materials Participants engaged in semi-structured interviews at either their home or transplant hopsital. Given the exploratory nature of the research, a qualitative method, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), was used. IPA was chosen as it has been widely use to study experiences of physical illness. It allowed the researcher to focus on the sense participants made of their experiences, both individually and collectively, and managed the impact of the researcher within the analysis process. Results IPA resulted in the development of three themes. ‘Keeping illness at a distance’ and ‘Working toward normality’ described young adults’ efforts to manage the impact of transplant on their lives, which was not reported to restrict adjustment or promote non-adherence. The third theme ‘living with difference’ described the ways in which being a transplant recipient challenged developmental tasks (e.g. career development) and expectations (e.g. illness being more typical in later life), and the isolation of this group. Conclusions In general these participants navigated the challenges of the transplant process successfully, though they continued to struggle with differences (e.g. living with a shortened life expectancy) associated with being a transplant recipient. This understanding of experiences may support professionals working with young adult heart transplant recipients and highlights the need for further research.