Exploring Family Decisions to Refuse Organ Donation at Imminent Death

Communication about organ donation at the time of imminent death is a meaningful, yet less understood, area of health communication. We employed a multiple goals framework to explore family normative perceptions of organ donation and the conversational goal tensions experienced during a family membe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Qualitative health research 2020-03, Vol.30 (4), p.572-582
Main Authors: Darnell, Whittney H., Real, Kevin, Bernard, Andrew
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Biological organs
Blood & organ donations
Communication
Death & dying
Decision Making
Donations
Donors
Family - psychology
Female
Health education
Health information
Health technology assessment
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Motivation
Proxy - psychology
Qualitative research
Refusal to Participate - psychology
Relatives
Right to Die
Tissue and Organ Procurement
Young Adult
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Summary:Communication about organ donation at the time of imminent death is a meaningful, yet less understood, area of health communication. We employed a multiple goals framework to explore family normative perceptions of organ donation and the conversational goal tensions experienced during a family member’s imminent death. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 family members who refused to donate when approached by an organ procurement coordinator (OPC) upon the imminent death of a family member. Thematic analysis revealed that family members described their decisions to refuse donation as (a) last acts of love, (b) responses to unnecessary requests, and (c) consistent with the known beliefs of the patient. Participants described several goal tensions operating within the organ donation conversation itself, including (a) the management of frequent requests, (b) pressure to donate, and (c) enduring unwanted requests from the OPC. Communication goals frameworks offer practical insights for improving organ-related conversations.
ISSN:1049-7323
1552-7557
DOI:10.1177/1049732319858614