Understanding The Motives Of Body Donors

Abstract

In the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland approximately 1,400 body donors for Anatomical Examination are needed per year for the education and training of medical and allied health care professionals. The current study aimed to explore prospective donors’ motives, beliefs and desires about body donation to medical schools in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with the hypothesis that their attitudes had not changed since the last such study in the UK in 1995 and that their motivation remained largely altruistic. A prospective, questionnaire‐based study of 821 potential donors over a 12 month period revealed a high level of agreement in answers to a number of questions exploring their motivation. Ninety six % of donors agreed they wished to improve the education of health care professionals, 92% agreed it was to help improve health care for patients, 78% considered that it provided a ‘good ending’ to their life. However, answers to two questions demonstrated a split viewpoint. When asked if saving relatives money was a motive 43% disagreed and 32% agreed, which was a marked increase compared to the 1995 study. A similar trend was seen when it came to sparing relatives inconvenience, with 46% of potential donors answering that this was not a motivating factor, but an increased 29% agreeing that it was. Inconvenience may mean different things to different people; practical, financial and emotional. Donors also reported differing views on avoiding traditional burial rituals with 46% agreeing that body donation helped them avoid such rituals, reflecting that some donor attitudes have changed since the last survey. Understanding donors’ altruistic motives is important, but so is recognizing some of the practical considerations important to them and how these may change with time. Therefore, the results of the current study help further our understanding of how we can support socially acceptable and ethical donation practices, including improved resources for donors, as well as also match future needs of the sector.

Fewer medical students are open to body donation after dissecting human cadavers

“…Each of these factors has previously shown associations with likelihood of willed body donation. 8,11,13,14,16,17 To determine whether medical students recapitulate the previously established associations between demographic factors and openness to willed body donation, we stratified responds by gender, race/ethnicity, organ donor status, previous dissection experience, familiarity with body donors and then by age for sub-analysis. We calculated odds ratios (OR) to assess for associations between any of the aforementioned features collected on the pre-or post-lab surveys and 'yes' response on the body donation item.…”

“…Although the study did not look at the impact of socioeconomic status, physicians may be partially shielded from the influence of economic factors due to their higher‐than‐average lifetime earnings 12 . However, this is not universally true for those within other well‐compensated professions, and financial considerations were found to be secondary to other motivating factors 8,11,13–15 . Thus, economic factors alone likely do not explain the poor representation of physicians within donor pools.…”

“…A recent study found that 32% of preregistered willed body donors reported that saving money (i.e. avoiding cremation costs, which are typically covered by body donation programmes) contributed to their motivation to will their body 11 . Although the study did not look at the impact of socioeconomic status, physicians may be partially shielded from the influence of economic factors due to their higher‐than‐average lifetime earnings 12 .…”

“…avoiding cremation costs, which are typically covered by body donation programmes) contributed to their motivation to will their body. 11 Although the study did not look at the impact of socioeconomic status, physicians may be partially shielded from the influence of economic factors due to their higher-than-average lifetime earnings. 12 However, this is not universally true for those within other well-compensated professions, and financial considerations were found to be secondary to other motivating factors.…”

“…12 However, this is not universally true for those within other well-compensated professions, and financial considerations were found to be secondary to other motivating factors. 8,11,[13][14][15] Thus, economic factors alone likely do not explain the poor representation of physicians within donor pools.…”