It Is All About Control: Understanding Reluctance to Register for Organ Donation

This article tests the theory that anxiety about death causes feelings of lack of control, which, with other factors, results in reluctance to donate organs, despite endorsement of the act. Using a survey of U.S. and U.K. registered organ donors and unregistered adults ( N = 777), we tested the impact of trust in medical professionals, perceived importance of information on the transplant processes, anxiety regarding loss of control at one’s end-of-life, and a prosocial view of organ donation on willingness to register as donor. Structural analyses show that control mediated the associations of trust and information with willingness, while prosocial did not predict willingness. The findings explain the gap between stated attitudes and actual behavior, and suggest that framing donor card registration and organ donation as a way to gain control over the loss of agency in death and dying may encourage organ donation.

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A global pandemic is not a good time to introduce ‘opt-out’ for organ donation

Medical Law International ◽

10.1177/0968533220950002 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 155-166

Author(s):

Jordan A. Parsons ◽

Greg Moorlock

Keyword(s):

Organ Donation ◽

Media Coverage ◽

Public Awareness ◽

Good Time ◽

Organ Donors ◽

Resuscitation Orders ◽

Global Pandemic ◽

Opt Out ◽

The Impact ◽

New System

Following several international examples, England introduced a system of deemed consent for organ donation in May 2020. This had been planned for over a year. However, the unprecedented circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic raise issues that make the timing of this change unfortunate. The planned public awareness campaign has thus far been overshadowed by media coverage of the pandemic, and will likely continue to be, creating a situation in which a significant portion of the population may be unaware of having become potential organ donors. Further, the immediate impact of the new policy is likely to be significantly weakened by the suspension of the majority of organ donation and transplant activity. In this article, we first outline the details of the new model introduced in England, before considering the impact of the pandemic on transplantation services. We put forward three ethical reasons why, given the unprecedented circumstances, the change should have been postponed. We argue that (1) COVID-19 dominating headlines will prevent widespread awareness of the change, thereby undermining the autonomy of those who do not wish to be donors; (2) a lack of transplant activity during the pandemic will make the impact of the change difficult to measure; and (3) trust in the new system may be damaged given controversial decisions regarding Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation orders and the allocation of scarce intensive care resources. These reasons combined make for a shaky start at best and present a risk of the new system failing to achieve its desired and essential effect of increasing the number of voluntary organ donors.

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The Impact of Religion and Provision of Information on Increasing Knowledge and Changing Attitudes to Organ Donation: An Intervention Study

Journal of Religion and Health ◽

10.1007/s10943-019-00961-0 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 59 (4) ◽

pp. 2082-2095 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ferid Krupic

Keyword(s):

Organ Donation ◽

Qualitative Content Analysis ◽

Theory And Practice ◽

Organ Donors ◽

Focus Group Interviews ◽

Attitudes And Practices ◽

Group Interviews ◽

Changing Attitudes ◽

Religious Aspects ◽

The Impact

AbstractOne of the most significant developments in recent history has probably been organ donation and organ transplantation. They are frequently the only treatment available in certain cases. However, there is an ever-increasing discrepancy between the number of people needing transplantation and the organs available, because the decision to donate an organ is up to each individual. The study aims to assess the impact of the intervention on knowledge, attitudes and practices on organ donation among religious immigrants in Sweden. Data were collected through three group interviews using open-ended questions and qualitative content analysis. Thirty-six participants, 18 males and 18 females from six countries, participated in the focus group interviews. The analysis of the collected data resulted in two main categories: “Religion in theory and practice” and “More information—more knowledge about organ donation” including seven subcategories. Understanding of religion and religiosity, happiness by taking the class, the practice of religion in everyday life, the overcoming the prejudices in religion, having more information about organ donation and the donations process, as well as that the increased information changes people’s minds, were some of things the informants emphasised as predictors of the decision of organ donation. A class dealing with religion, the religious aspects of organ donation and the way the Swedish healthcare system is organised increased people’s knowledge and changed their attitudes so they became potential organ donors. More intervention studies are needed in every field of medicine to build confidence and give time to educate and discuss issues with potential organ donors in Sweden.

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Organ Donation and the Ars Moriendi

The Linacre Quarterly ◽

10.1177/0024363919874591 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 86 (4) ◽

pp. 327-334

Author(s):

Stephen Doran

Keyword(s):

Organ Donation ◽

Human Person ◽

Organ Donor ◽

Third Party ◽

Organ Donors ◽

Potential Organ Donor ◽

Ars Moriendi ◽

Dying Patients ◽

Donation Process ◽

The Impact

Organ donation is rightly understood as a gift that is a genuine act of love. Organ donation as an act of love requires it to be an act of freedom that honors the integrity of the human person who is in the process of dying. However, the process of organ donation, by necessity, inserts a third party of interest whose primary aim is to assist someone other than the dying person. Caregivers can become “organ focused” instead of “patient focused.” The procurement of organs potentially results in the commodification of the potential organ donor. Furthermore, death is not a momentary event but rather an ontological change in the person where the union of body and soul becomes divided. This Catholic understanding of death is important to assess the impact of organ donation on the process of dying. Family members of organ donors often have traumatic memories associated with the organ donation process, potentially overshadowing the ars moriendi—the art of dying. Summary: While organ donation is an act of love, the donation process can be distraction from the care of the dying patient, who may be treated differently than other dying patients who are not organ donors. A Catholic understanding of death is helpful in assessing the impact of the organ donation process.

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Diverging Paths

10.1093/oso/9780198779599.003.0012 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Dirk Luyten

Keyword(s):

World War Ii ◽

Welfare State ◽

Social Protection ◽

National Level ◽

Gain Control ◽

Political Strategy ◽

State Development ◽

Social Reforms ◽

Welfare State Development ◽

The Impact

For the Netherlands and Belgium in the twentieth century, occupation is a key concept to understand the impact of the war on welfare state development. The occupation shifted the balance of power between domestic social forces: this was more decisive for welfare state development than the action of the occupier in itself. War and occupation did not result exclusively in more cooperation between social classes: some interest groups saw the war as a window of opportunity to develop strategies resulting in more social conflict. Class cooperation was often part of a political strategy to gain control over social groups or to legitimate social reforms. The world wars changed the scale of organization of social protection, from the local to the national level: after World War II social policy became a mission for the national state. For both countries, war endings had more lasting effects for welfare state development than the occupation itself.

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The Nation and the Family: The Impact of National Identification and Perceived Importance of Family Values on Homophobic Attitudes in Lithuania and Scotland

Sex Roles ◽

10.1007/s11199-016-0641-y ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 75 (9-10) ◽

pp. 448-458

Author(s):

Juliet R. H. Wakefield ◽

Monika Kalinauskaite ◽

Nick Hopkins

Keyword(s):

Family Values ◽

National Identification ◽

The Family ◽

Perceived Importance ◽

The Impact

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Factors Moderating the Impact of After Death Communications on Beliefs and Spirituality

OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying ◽

10.1177/00302228211029160 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 003022282110291

Author(s):

Jennifer K. Penberthy ◽

Marieta Pehlivanova ◽

Tevfik Kalelioglu ◽

Chris A. Roe ◽

Callum E. Cooper ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Experience ◽

Death And Dying ◽

Emotional Reaction ◽

Physical Contact ◽

Fear Of Death ◽

Future Directions ◽

Life After Death ◽

Moderating Factors ◽

The Impact ◽

Beliefs And Attitudes

After death communications(ADCs) are defined as perceived spontaneous contacts with living individuals by the deceased. This research presents on a subset of data from a recent large international survey of individuals who experienced ADCs and provided systematic information regarding these experiences. In our research we explore the impact of having an ADC on reported spirituality, religiosity, beliefs and attitudes about death and dying and also explore the moderating factors of this impact. We found that having an ADC was perceived as a positive life experience and that it was associated with a reduction in fear of death, belief in life after death and that the deceased could communicate with the living, and increased reported spirituality. Moderating factors include aspects of having or desiring physical contact with the deceased as well as perceiving some emotional reaction to the ADCs. Future directions for research exploration are also provided based on our findings.

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The Impact of Social Capital on Organ Donation: Evidence from the Netherlands

Social Indicators Research ◽

10.1007/s11205-021-02666-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hans Schmeets ◽

Floris Peters

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

The Netherlands ◽

Organ Donation ◽

The Impact

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The impact of death and dying on the personhood of medical students: a systematic scoping review

BMC Medical Education ◽

10.1186/s12909-020-02411-y ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Chong Yao Ho ◽

Cheryl Shumin Kow ◽

Chin Howe Joshua Chia ◽

Jia Ying Low ◽

Yong Hao Melvin Lai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Death And Dying ◽

Support Mechanism ◽

Resource Limited ◽

Dying Patients ◽

Concurrent Use ◽

Effective Training ◽

Longitudinal Support ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background The re-introduction of medical students into healthcare systems struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic raises concerns as to whether they will be supported when confronted with death and dying patients in resource-limited settings and with reduced support from senior clinicians. Better understanding of how medical students respond to death and dying will inform educationalists and clinicians on how to best support them. Methods We adopt Krishna’s Systematic Evidence Based Approach to carry out a Systematic Scoping Review (SSR in SEBA) on the impact of death and dying on medical students. This structured search process and concurrent use of thematic and directed content analysis of data from six databases (Split Approach) enhances the transparency and reproducibility of this review. Results Seven thousand six hundred nineteen were identified, 149 articles reviewed and 52 articles included. The Split Approach revealed similar themes and categories that correspond to the Innate, Individual, Relational and Societal domains in the Ring Theory of Personhood. Conclusion Facing death and dying amongst their patients affect how medical students envisage their personhood. This underlines the need for timely, holistic and longitudinal support systems to ensure that problems faced are addressed early. To do so, there must be effective training and a structured support mechanism.

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