-transparent.png){kind=logo}
OBJECTIVE Organ donation is a complex decision for family members of Asian donors. The impact of cadaveric organ donation on both Chinese and Western donor families has not been well investigated within a cultural framework. The purposes of this study were to follow Chinese family members' appraisal of their decision to donate organs, to explore the possible negative and positive impacts of organ donation on their family life, and to determine what help they expected from healthcare providers during the first 6 months after donation. METHODS Twenty-two family members (10 men and 12 women) of cadaveric organ donors who signed consent forms at an organ transplant medical center in Taiwan participated in this project and completed in-depth interviews during the sixth month after donation. RESULTS Participants were 25 to 56 years old (mean = 48.15 +/- 8.31 years). The type of kinship of the participants included the donor's parents, older sister, and spouse. Subjects reported several negative impacts: worry about the donor's afterlife (86%), stress due to controversy among family members over the decision to donate (77%), and stress due to others' devaluation of the donation (45%). Positive impacts reported by the subjects included having a sense of reward for helping others (36%), having an increased appreciation of life (32%), having closer family relationships (23%), and planning to shift life goals to the study of medicine (9%). Subjects expected the transplant team to provide information about organ recipients (73%), to submit the necessary documents so that family members could receive healthcare payments from the insurance company (68%), to help resolve legal proceedings and settlements associated with accidents (64%), and to not overly publicize their decision to donate (64%). CONCLUSIONS Although all of the subjects reported that organ donation was the right decision, the decision to donate did not protect Taiwanese donor families from negative psychocognitive bereavement. The impacts of organ donation were affected by the subject's social cultural, spiritual, and legal context and the nature of their bereavement.
F J Shih, and
M K Lai, and
M H Lin, and
H Y Lin, and
C I Tsao, and
L L Chou, and
S H Chu
March 1999,
Archives of internal medicine,
F J Shih, and
M K Lai, and
M H Lin, and
H Y Lin, and
C I Tsao, and
L L Chou, and
S H Chu
December 1999,
Clinical transplantation,
F J Shih, and
M K Lai, and
M H Lin, and
H Y Lin, and
C I Tsao, and
L L Chou, and
S H Chu
February 1995,
Anaesthesia and intensive care,
F J Shih, and
M K Lai, and
M H Lin, and
H Y Lin, and
C I Tsao, and
L L Chou, and
S H Chu
December 1987,
ANNA journal,
F J Shih, and
M K Lai, and
M H Lin, and
H Y Lin, and
C I Tsao, and
L L Chou, and
S H Chu
October 2014,
Intensive & critical care nursing,
F J Shih, and
M K Lai, and
M H Lin, and
H Y Lin, and
C I Tsao, and
L L Chou, and
S H Chu
October 1997,
QJM : monthly journal of the Association of Physicians,
F J Shih, and
M K Lai, and
M H Lin, and
H Y Lin, and
C I Tsao, and
L L Chou, and
S H Chu
January 2006,
American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons,
F J Shih, and
M K Lai, and
M H Lin, and
H Y Lin, and
C I Tsao, and
L L Chou, and
S H Chu
December 2001,
Psychotherapie, Psychosomatik, medizinische Psychologie,
F J Shih, and
M K Lai, and
M H Lin, and
H Y Lin, and
C I Tsao, and
L L Chou, and
S H Chu
November 1998,
Transplantation proceedings,
F J Shih, and
M K Lai, and
M H Lin, and
H Y Lin, and
C I Tsao, and
L L Chou, and
S H Chu
October 1994,
Annals of surgery,
