Hispanic perceptions of organ donation

Abstract

The low rate of organ donation among Hispanics is of increasing concern to the transplant community at a time when the Hispanic population is growing rapidly, especially in Southern California. OneLegacy, the nation's largest organ procurement organization, commissioned a series of in-depth individual interviews with Spanish-language-dominant Hispanics to identify barriers and motivators to organ and tissue donation. Participants included 5 families who had consented to the donation of a loved one's organs within the past year and 7 families from the general Hispanic public who were either opposed to or ambivalent about organ donation. Individuals from both groups indicated a common reticence to speak of or make plans for either their own or a family member's death and lacked knowledge of procedures surrounding donation (whether consenting or being a donor themselves). Some respondents from the opposing group did not understand that organ donation takes place after death, expressing fears that declaring themselves donors would put them at risk of being allowed to die so that their organs could be recovered. Other attitudinal barriers included the wish to die with all body parts intact and reluctance to have another person's organ in their bodies. Consenting respondents found comfort in having helped another person to live. They wished for a personal expression of thanks from the recipients and an opportunity to learn more about and meet them. Interview findings suggest a great need to further educate the Hispanic community about organ donation, especially concerning brain death, the process for organ donation, and the protections afforded to donors and their families in the United States. Overcoming the taboos surrounding discussion of death and planning for death is an essential first step.