Although brain death was formally recognized in Korea in 2000 for the purpose of organ donation, traditional Confucian-based thought still prevails. The aim of this study was to explore sociocultural perspectives that influence health professionals’ attitudes and perceptions regarding organ donation. Semistructured interviews were conducted with nine key informants from three major hospitals providing transplant services in South Korea. Several themes were identified as barriers to organ donation: Confucianism, misunderstandings and myths, organs as spare for selling, lack of clarity in the definition of death in the new legislation, and limited medical insurance coverage. It remains difficult for brain death to be accepted as true death, and there is currently a poor rate of organ procurement. Findings of the study will help identify socioculturally appropriate strategies to promote acceptance and accessibility of organ transplantation among South Koreans.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall .
2.
Annells, M. (2003). Grounded theory. In Z. Schneider & D. Elliott (Eds), Nursing research: Methods, critical appraisal and utilisation (2nd ed., pp. 163-178). Sydney: Mosby .
3.
Berger, J. (1998). Cultural and ethnicity in clinical care . Archives of Internal Medicine, 158, 2085-2090 .
4.
Bidigare, S. A., & Oermann, M. H. (1991). Attitudes and knowledge of nurses regarding organ procurement . Heart & Lung, 20, 20-25 .
5.
Cantwell, M., & Clifford, C. (2000). English nursing and medical students’ attitudes towards organ donation . Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32, 961-968 .
6.
Chondogyo. (2001). Tangun, the founding father of Korean nation. Retrieved January 7, 2001, from http://www.chondogyo.or.kr
7.
Chun, Y. S. (1992). Christian view of organ donation and transplantation. Unpublished master’s thesis. University of the Presbyterian Theology, Seoul, South Korea.
8.
Day, L. (2001). How nurses shift from care of a brain-injured patient to maintenance of a brain-dead donor . American Journal of Critical Care, 10, 306-312 .
9.
Duke, J., Murphy, B., & Bell, A. (1998). Nurses’ attitudes toward organ donation: An Australian perspective . Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing, 17, 264-270 .
10.
Ehrle, R., Shafer, T., & Nelson, K. (1999). Referral, request, and consent for organ donation: Best practice—A blueprint for success . Critical Care Nurse, 19, 21-33 .
11.
Joo, A. E. (1995). Nurses’ Attitude regarding organ transplantation. Unpublished master’s thesis. University of Yon-Sei, Seoul, South Korea.
12.
Kim, J. R., Elliott, D., & Hyde, C. (2002). Korean nurses’ perspectives of organ donation and transplantation: a review . Transplant Nurses Journal, 11, 20-24 .
13.
Kim, J. T. (1995). Confucianism and Confucian culture. Seoul, South Korea: Traditional Cultural Institution Pub .
Kim, Y. S. (Ed.). (1998). Organ transplantation: Principles and practice. Seoul, South Korea: Huny-Mon .
16.
Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare (KMHW). (2000). The synopsis of Organ Transplantation Act. Seoul, South Korea: Korean Health and Welfare Government Publisher .
17.
Korean Network for Organ Sharing (KONOS). (2003). Organ donation in Korean, statistics of organ transplantation from brain dead donors. Retrieved January 7, 2003, from http://www.konos.go.kr/Left_statistics.htm
18.
Lam, W., & McCullough, L. (2000). Influence of religious and spiritual values on the willingness of Chinese-Americans to donate organs for transplantation . Clinical Transplantation, 14, 449-456 .
19.
Lim, H. J. (1999). The modern religious view of the life in Korean society . Dong Hak Infor, 8, 22-32 .
20.
Marshall, M. N. (1996). The key informant technique . Family Practice, 13, 92-97 .
21.
McColl, M. A., & Paterson, J. (1997). A descriptive framework for community-based rehabilitation . Canadian Journal of Rehabilitation, 10, 297-306 .
22.
McQuay, J. (1995). Cross-cultural customs and beliefs related to health crises, death and organ donation/transplantation: A guide to assist health care professionals understand different responses and provide cross-cultural assistance . Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America, 7, 581-594 .
23.
Park, E. S. (1997). Attitudes toward brain death and organ transplantation. Unpublished master’s thesis. University of Kong Hee, Seoul, South Korea.
24.
Pearson, A., Robertson-Malt, S., Walsh, K., & FitzGerald, M. (2001). Intensive care nurses’ experiences of caring for brain dead organ donor patients . Journal of Clinical Nursing, 10, 132-139 .
25.
Randhawa, G. (1995). Organ donation: Social and cultural issues . Nursing Standard, 9, 25-27 .
26.
Rix, B. A. (1990). The importance of knowledge and trust in the definition of death . Bioethics, 4, 232-236 .
27.
Sarantakos, S. (1993). Social research. Sydney: Macmillan Australia .
28.
Shih, F., Lai, M., Lin, M., Lin, H., Tsao, C., Chou, L., et al. (2001). Impact of cadaveric organ donation on Taiwanese donor families during the first 6 months after donation . Psychosomatic Medicine, 63, 69-78 .
29.
Stoeckle, M. (1990). Attitudes of critical care nurses towards organ donation . Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing, 9, 354-361 .
30.
Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage .
31.
Wackerbarth, S. B., Streams, M. E., & Smith, M. K. (2002). Capturing the insights of family caregivers: Survey item generation with a coupled interview/focus group approach . Qualitative Health Research, 12, 1141-1154 .
