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.

Main Outcome Measures: Responses to the 20-question survey addressing factors that help healing from grief, as well as contextual information about the families' experience at the hospital and the consent process.

Results: Most respondents (84%) indicated that family support was the most helpful thing in dealing with their grief, followed by the support of friends (74%) and religious and cultural beliefs (37%). Most (75%) indicated that they agreed to donation so that something positive could result from their loss. Most respondents (93%) felt that they were given enough information to make an informed decision about donation, and 6% indicated that the donation process interfered with funeral or memorial arrangements. More than 95% understood that their loved one had died before they were approached for consent. Consistent with previous studies, 12% said they still had unanswered questions about aspects of donation, and 15% of respondents indicated that the discussion about organ donation added more emotional stress to their overall experience.