Understanding family involvement in body donation in Hong Kong: A qualitative study of registered donors and bereaved family members

Abstract

Encouraging the public to donate their bodies after death is crucial for anatomy teaching in medical education. In Hong Kong, success may be affected if family members override the registered donors' wish after death, and thus the role of family in body donation is worth more attention. This study aims to examine how family is involved in the process of body donation. A qualitative study was conducted in Hong Kong. Registered donors and bereaved family members were recruited from a body donation scheme organised by a medical school. In‐depth interviews were done and thematic analysis was conducted. Five themes were found: (a) decision‐making: individual versus family; (b) family conflicts: avoidance versus confrontation; (c) trust in family members: discuss versus do not discuss; (d) family members' struggles in implementation; (e) informed end‐of‐life planning. Findings revealed that donors may not necessarily discuss their decisions about body donation with family members directly. Instead, it was found that family was involved in the body donation process in different ways and to different extents. For example, donors considered family members' views about body donation, but they chose not to involve them in the discussions if they expected objections, in order to avoid conflicts. Bereaved family members considered understanding family members' body donation decisions prior to death important, and they shared the implications of body donation for funeral arrangements and the grieving process. Findings help to understand the role of the family in body donation, especially in the Hong Kong Chinese context, and may give insights into how the body donation scheme could be enhanced to facilitate better communication between registered donors and family members as well as to support bereaved family members in implementing the decision to donate.

In death there is life: perceptions of the university community regarding body donation for educational purposes in the United Arab Emirates

“…In line with similar studies conducted in the ME, the difference in religious and cultural backdrops between the region and the western world is deemed to shape participants' attitudes [ 54 , 65 ]. Of course, end-of-life planning often requires consultation with one's family, hence they have been reported to also sway the decision-making process of the individual [ 80 ]. Conversely, Saha et al.…”

Conducting an advance care planning group among older adults living in residential care homes: An initiative of social workers in Hong Kong

“…For example, a taboo still exists about disclosing the truth (diagnosis and prognosis) to patients, for fear that this may harm them (Chan, 2011). Recent studies on body donation in Hong Kong also reveal that registered donors may avoid communicating with family members their decisions to donate their bodies after death F I G U R E 1 Flow chart of the study (Chan et al, 2020a(Chan et al, , 2020b). An ACP group may be a way to enhance older adults' openness and motivate them to discuss EOL issues with their family members.…”

“…Thus, ACP intervention provided by social workers also aims to help older adults to be more open to EOL discussion and enhances the overall QOL of older adults in EOL care (Peres, 2016). In the Hong Kong Chinese context, family is of particularly great importance in EOL decision (Chan, 2011;Chan et al, 2020aChan et al, , 2020b. Social workers in Hong Kong may thus play…”

Evaluation of Information on Body Donation Promotion at Official Websites of Turkish Anatomy Departments

“…This gives the surviving relatives the right to accept or override the donation decision of a potential body donor (Gürses et al, 2019). Previous reports showed that donors may not discuss their decisions regarding body donation with their relatives (Chan et al, 2020) and in Turkey, nearly half (43.7%) of registered body donors did not involve their relatives in the donation process. Therefore, the anatomy departments included in this study advised potential donors to discuss their decisions with their relatives and encouraged them to persuade their family members to become legal witnesses during the body donation process in order to secure future donations.…”