Family Conversations about Organ Donation

Abstract

Objective

To describe family conversations about organ donation and to examine interrelationships among the content and outcomes of these conversations, and attitudes toward organ donation.

Design

Closed and open-ended survey questions.

Participants

353 men and 488 women.

Main Outcome Measures

Content analysis of reports of conversations and of reactions of family members to the conversations, as well as closed items assessing both those issues and attitudes toward donation.

Results

Most respondents who were willing to donate their organs had not talked with their families about their donation wishes. Conversations that did occur were typically about the patient's donation wishes and moral and altruistic reasons for donation, or included a story about donation. These approaches, as well as talking about the reasons for wishing to donate, were associated with positive responses from family members, whereas discussing fears about being declared dead prematurely or about the medical establishment were associated with negative responses.