6 Factors Affecting Organ Donor Consent

Since such a large number of people don’t sign organ donation cards or place themselves on a registry, healthcare personnel find themselves in the position of having to ask shocked and grieving families about their wishes.

This is a difficult task for people who aren’t trained or well-prepared for the role.

According to a press release issued by the BMJ ,

A recent audit of 341 deaths in intensive care units in the UK revealed that 41% of relatives of potential donors denied consent. In an interview study a third of relatives who had refused donation said that they would not refuse again, whereas only a few of people who had given consent regretted their decision.

The authors of the study review looked at 20 were looking to see if they could find specific factors that affected how a family responded to the question of organ donation after brain death. What was discovered wasn’t surprising: relatives who had more time to accept the information of the death before being approached about organ donation were more likely to agree to it. Being asked at the same time as receiving the bad news was not an successful way to get consent in most cases.

As known and done in many places, the person doing the asking also shouldn’t be the one who has broken the news or has cared for the patient who has died. This should be the role of a procurement or transplant coordinator, although the medical staff may be on hand to answer questions.

The researchers zeroed in on 6 factors that affected the organ donation response:

• How much information and the quality of information the relatives received
• How the relatives felt about the level of care their loved one received
• Their understanding of what brain stem death is
• Where the request is made (private location versus busy hallway or at the bedside)
• How experienced or qualified the person making the request was
• How much time they had to make their decision

What do you think?

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Image: Newscom