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Perception of the Chaldean Population Towards Whole Body Donation
Author(s) -
Gappy Mavis,
Barremkala Malli,
Farr A. Celeste
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.09745
Subject(s) - donation , organ donation , population , perception , psychology , focus group , feeling , social psychology , medicine , family medicine , surgery , transplantation , political science , sociology , law , environmental health , neuroscience , anthropology
The use of human donors for anatomic dissection is a long‐held tradition in medical education. The majority of donors are Caucasian which leads to a lack of racial diversity among the body donors. The aim of this project is to determine the knowledge, attitude, and perception of the Chaldean population towards whole‐body donation. By understanding the perspectives of the Chaldeans relative to whole body donation programs, we may be able to explain their lack of participation in the donation programs. METHODS Focus groups were held to ascertain the participants understanding of the body donation process, willingness to donate, and influencing factors. Chaldeans over the age of 18 were invited to participate in the study. During the focus groups, audio recordings were collected for transcription and analysis of responses. They were recruited from the Southeast area of Michigan, which has one of the largest Chaldean communities in the country. Five focus groups have been conducted with a total of 30 participants between the ages of 18–50. RESULTS A majority of participants reported that they did not know about the whole‐body donation process and were more familiar with organ donation. They generally agreed that whole‐body donation is valuable for education yet they would prefer organ donation. For either donation type, they generally believed in the conspiracy theory that the healthcare worker would let them die to get their body or organs. The factors influencing their decision to donate are family, providing a benefit to society, religion, having a funeral, and being cremated. The participants were unsure whether Catholicism permits whole‐body donation or cremation (negative factor). The consensus among the groups was that they would never do whole‐body donation but might donate their organs. CONCLUSION The results reveal that participants are unwilling to participate in whole body donation programs mostly because of the lack of knowledge on the whole‐body donation process and a conflation with organ donation. Participants commented that they would be interested in more education regarding whole‐body donation. Anatomy dissection programs that are planning to improve diversity in their cadaver population should talk to Chaldean religious leaders to get a further understanding of the religious implication of whole‐body donation and engage in educational programs in the community that reflect and respect those views. Furthermore, education should explain the difference between whole‐body donation and organ donation and the benefits of these donations while also addressing the related conspiracy theory.