The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health (BALM) invited MOHAN Foundation for a session on “Organ donation and counselling the grieving families” on 5^th November 2020. MOHAN Foundation was represented by Ms. Sujatha Suriyamoorthi, Manager-Information Systems (as the speaker) and Dr. Sumana Navin, Course Director. This was the 6^th consecutive year that MOHAN Foundation was invited to address the students of BALM. Around 35 students who are doing their M.A. in Applied Psychology attended the virtual session. This is a two-year programme affiliated with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai.

The participants were given an insight on basic concepts of organ donation and transplantation which included the medical, legal and transplant coordination aspects.

The second part of the programme was on counselling the grieving families and approaching them for organ donation. The students were explained the concept of grief, its stages, counselling process, the skills and characteristics of a counsellor. A few case studies were used to offer the students an opportunity to explore the real-world challenges faced while approaching the families for organ donation.

Some of the queries that were addressed during the session were

• Donation after circulatory death – time factors
• Organ donation from people with beta-thalassemia
• Saviour sibling – Its relevance in solid organ donation and ethical concerns
• Role of media and its influence on public opinion
• Religious perspectives on organ donation