Deciding on cadaveric organ donation in Black African families

Abstract

This study explores factors that have affected the decision of Black African families to donate cadaveric organs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten families living in greater Cape Town, South Africa. Addresses were obtained from records of the transplant co-ordinators at Groote Schuur Hospital. The data were analysed according to broad themes emerging from the interviews. The most important themes were the influence of violent, criminal deaths; the need for a longer period of consultation among family members: belief in the integrity of the ancestor's body; lack of understanding of brain death; and experiences of grief and loss.

“Even if I were to consent, my family will never agree”: exploring autopsy services for posthumous occupational lung disease compensation among mineworkers in South Africa

“…Although obtaining informed autopsy consent is to elicit the family's (and deceased patient's) religious, cultural and ethical sensitivities and determine what information is significant to decision making (19–22), the study found that family consent was deemed important to appease ancestors so that misfortunes are associated with causes other than the wrath of their ancestors. This finding is similar to other low-income settings that found that the initial decision making for informed consent was vested in the community rather than in the individual (20, 23). …”

Reflective journals: unmasking student perceptions of anatomical education

“…This importance of having an intact body is stressed in certain religious groups and is associated with respect for the ancestors and the idea of an after-life [46,48]. Kometsi and Louw [43] further explored the concept of ancestors which is defined as "a belief, that after death, one joins a spiritual world that works in collaboration with and in immediate subordination to God over humankind". Satyapal [77] reiterated that their 'spirits' (amadlozi) should also be at peace.…”

Rationalisation and racialisation in the Rainbow Nation: inequalities and identity in the South African bone marrow transplant network

“…. for thinking about racial and ethnic minorities as collective social actors -as communities, embedded in fields of power relations' it still retains an essentialist 'understanding of races as discrete categorical groups' (Epstein 2008, 803; for an example in South Africa see Kometsi 1998).…”