{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T04:51:36Z","timestamp":1791175896617,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791158400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontierspartnerships.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Transpl. Int."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Solid organ transplantation has achieved remarkable improvements in graft and patient survival, making traditional biomedical outcomes alone insufficient to fully define transplant success. Thus, attention is growing directed toward patient-reported outcomes, quality of life, psychological wellbeing, treatment burden, social reintegration, and the broader lived experience of transplant recipients. These dimensions are often subjective and context-dependent making them difficult to capture through quantitative methods alone. Qualitative research offers a complementary approach by exploring how patients, caregivers, donor families, and healthcare professionals perceive and give meaning to transplantation. In transplant medicine, qualitative methods may represent a relevant resource. Despite its potential, qualitative research remains underrepresented in leading transplantation journals and is often limited by misconceptions regarding rigor, lack of methodological training, and lacking editorial know-how. Integrating qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches may help generate more comprehensive evidence. A new research agenda in transplantation should therefore move beyond graft survival to include lived experience as a central component of patient-centered care.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/ti.2026.17264","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T04:10:13Z","timestamp":1791173413000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["From graft survival to lived experience: a new research agenda in transplant medicine"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"39","author":[{"given":"Chiara","family":"Becchetti","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate School for Health Sciences (GHS), University of Bern","place":["Bern, Switzerland"]},{"name":"Department of Visceral Surgery and Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern","place":["Bern, Switzerland"]},{"name":"Hepatology and Gastroenterology Division, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Niguarda Hospital","place":["Milan, Italy"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sofia C.","family":"Zambrano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, ISPM, University of Bern","place":["Bern, Switzerland"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"S422","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajt.2025.01.025","article-title":"OPTN\/SRTR 2023 annual data report: lung","volume":"25","author":"Valapour","year":"2025","journal-title":"Am J Transpl"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"S176","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajt.2024.01.014","article-title":"OPTN\/SRTR 2022 annual data report: liver","volume":"24","author":"Kwong","year":"2024","journal-title":"Am J Transpl"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"S19","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajt.2024.01.012","article-title":"OPTN\/SRTR 2022 annual data report: Kidney","volume":"24","author":"Lentine","year":"2024","journal-title":"Am J Transpl"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"S305","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajt.2024.01.016","article-title":"OPTN\/SRTR 2022 annual data report: heart","volume":"24","author":"Colvin","year":"2024","journal-title":"Am J Transpl"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14074","DOI":"10.3389\/ti.2025.14074","article-title":"Life after kidney transplantation: the time for a new narrative","volume":"38","author":"Fowler","year":"2025","journal-title":"Transpl Int"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e562","DOI":"10.1097\/TP.0000000000005603","article-title":"Patient-reported outcome measures in solid organ transplant recipients: current use, challenges, and recommendations for future use","volume":"110","author":"de Boer","year":"2026","journal-title":"Transplantation"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10134","DOI":"10.3389\/ti.2022.10134","article-title":"Patient-reported outcomes as endpoints in clinical trials of kidney transplantation interventions","volume":"35","author":"Tong","year":"2022","journal-title":"Transpl Int"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14497","DOI":"10.3389\/ti.2025.14497","article-title":"Quality of measurement properties in patient reported outcomes used in adult liver transplant candidates and recipients: a systematic review","volume":"38","author":"van Knippenberg","year":"2025","journal-title":"Transpl Int"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1087","DOI":"10.1007\/s11136-010-9677-6","article-title":"PRO development: rigorous qualitative research as the crucial foundation","volume":"19","author":"Lasch","year":"2010","journal-title":"Qual Life Res"},{"key":"B10","volume-title":"Qualitative Research in Health Care","author":"Mays","year":"2020"},{"key":"B11","first-page":"57","volume-title":"Qualitative and Quantitative Methods: When Stories Converge","author":"Kidder","year":"1987"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"328","DOI":"10.1080\/14780887.2020.1769238","article-title":"One size fits all? 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