Exploring College Students' Family Discussions about Organ and Tissue Donation

Abstract

One hundred fifty-four (154) undergraduate students were asked to discuss organ and tissue donation (OTD) with their families and then report on the conversations. Ninety-four percent of the students discussed OTD with family members during the study. Students more often reported speaking to their mothers (67%) compared to their fathers (26%) about OTD. Family members typically reacted either positively (60%) or neutrally (27%) to the topic of organ and tissue donation. Students reported initiating the conversation by mentioning their participation in this project (39%) or by asking their family member's intentions (34%). Family conversations lasted a median of 12 minutes, and 33% of students reported the family conversation positively affected their attitudes toward OTD. Twenty-eight percent (28%) of students reported the conversation had a positive impact on family's attitudes toward OTD.

Keywords:

• Family discussion
• Organ donation

This paper was based on the author's master's thesis at University at Buffalo directed by Thomas Feeley. The author was supported by grant #1R39OT01205 from the Health Resources Services Administration's Division of Transplantation (HRSA/DoT), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of HRSA/DoT

Notes

1. For a copy of the study instructions, the reader should contact the first author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Donald E. Vincent

Donald Vincent (M.A., University at Buffalo, 2005) is a doctoral student in the Communication Department at University at Buffalo.