Family, friends, and faith: how organ donor families heal.

Context: Understanding how organ donors' families recover from their grief can help organ procurement organizations improve consent rates and increase the number of deceased donor organs available for transplant.

Objective: To determine what helps the loved ones of deceased organ donors heal from their grief and loss, and to better understand families' needs during the consent process as a way of improving overall consent rates for organ donation.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Written survey of all organ and tissue donors' families in the San Diego and Imperial County (California) service area during 2006 and 2007.