Advanced Search

Guest Opinion

Encourage patients to speak with their families about organ donation

By talking to patients about organ donation, family physicians can help end the shortage of organs for transplantation and thus help save lives.

The organ shortage is severe and growing. With more than 47,000 people on the waiting list for a transplant, nine to 10 people die each day while waiting for a suitable donor. The shortage is especially severe among racial and ethnic minorities.

A majority of Americans are in favor of organ donation and think it likely they would donate their organs after death. The problem is that many of those who intend to donate have never discussed their wishes with their family.

Signing a donor card isn't enough. Hospitals will not proceed to remove organs without the next-of-kin's consent, even if the patient has a donor card. Doing otherwise would invite bad publicity or even a lawsuit.

What can family physicians do to help? During a physical or routine visit, physicians can give their patients a brochure about organ donation with a brief request to talk to their families about it.

The message is simple: It's important to let your family know your wishes while you're still healthy, so why not do that right now? The goal here is not to convince patients that they should be donors, but simply to encourage patients to bring up the subject with their families.

Inviting people to talk about it can help end the organ shortage, as well as benefiting patients and their families. Many donor families say knowing in advance what their loved one wanted and being able to give consent to organ donation helped them cope with the grief of their loss.

William DeJong, PhD
Harvard School of Public Health

Carol Beasley, MPPM
Partnership for Organ Donation

• FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.

FP Report, October 1996 headlines