S.H. Bolt

Motivation for body donation to science: More than an altruistic act

BACKGROUND In recent years the Netherlands has witnessed a steep increase in the number of bodies donated for medical research and training. To explore this upward trend and motives for donation, a survey was conducted among registered body donors in the database of the Department of Anatomy at the University Medical Center of Groningen (UMCG). METHODS In November 2008, postal questionnaires were sent to 996 people enrolled at the UMCG body donor database. The present study focuses on motives for donation and social background characteristics of the body donors. FINDINGS Registered donors responded quickly and the survey response rate was high (76%). The mean age of respondents was 69 years and the majority described themselves as Dutch (98%) and non-church affiliated (79%). One quarter (25%) of the respondents are/were health care professionals and 11% involved in education. Principal factor analysis revealed three dimensions underlying ten different motivations for body donation: a desire to be useful after death, a negative attitude towards funerals and expression of gratitude. Despite the current economic recession only 8% of respondents are prompted by money motives to bequeath their bodies. CONCLUSIONS The majority of motives for body donation stem from the wish to be useful after death. However, the present survey suggests that body donation is more than an altruistic act; people are also motivated by personal benefit. Results of our survey contradict the notion that body donation stems from loneliness. Many donors have a supportive social network and meaningful social relationships. People moreover propagate body donation within their social networks.

Anatomist on the dissecting table? Dutch anatomical professionals' views on body donation

Anatomical professionals know better than anyone else that donated bodies are a valuable asset to anatomical science and medical education. They highly value voluntary donations, since a dearth of bodies negatively affects their profession. With this in mind, we conducted a survey (n = 54) at the 171st scientific meeting of the Dutch Anatomical Society in 2009 to see to what extent anatomical professionals are willing to donate their own body. The results reveal that none of the survey participants are registered as a whole body donor and that only a quarter of them would consider the possibility of body donation. We argue that the two main constraints preventing Dutch anatomical professionals from donating their own body are their professional and their social environments. In contrast to the absence of registered body donors, half of the anatomical professionals are registered as an organ donor. This figure far exceeds the proportion of registered organ donors among the general Dutch population. Clin. Anat. 25:168–175, 2012.

Personality and motivation for body donation

BACKGROUND This study examines the relationship between motivation for body donation to science and personality characteristics using a body donor survey (N=759) conducted by the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) in The Netherlands. The survey expands on anthropological studies that suggest an association between donor motivation and personality. METHODS A structural equation model was used to investigate the relationship between personality and motivation for body donation. FINDINGS The results show that, compared to society at large, body donors have a similar spectrum of personality characteristics. However, we found statistically significant positive relationships between donor motivation and Big Five personality traits. Together the personality traits explain between 5% and 15% of the variance in motivation for body donation. CONCLUSIONS We argue that donor campaigns should not focus solely on altruistic motives, but should include the aspect of possible personal achievement by the donor. This is a fruitful starting point for approaching potential donors and anticipating their needs.

An altar in honor of the anatomical gift

On All Saints Day 2009 a monument for body donors was unveiled by the Department of Anatomy, at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre (RUNMC). Although body donation to medical science contributes substantially to the quality of medical education, the ceremony was only the first time that the RUNMC publicly reciprocated the anatomical gift. By means of the monument the department of Anatomy endeavors to express gratitude for the gift of body donors and raise awareness among students to value the gift and treat donor bodies with the proper respect. Furthermore, the large attendance of bereaved at the unveiling ceremony, revealed another equally important meaning of the monument, which is the significance of the monument to the donor kin. The wish of a body donor has large implications for the way bereaved can take leave of the donor; there is limited time to bade the deceased farewell, the body will not be available for a funeral, and the donor kin stay behind empty handed without even a grave or ashes. Therefore the monument can be meaningful by facilitating the bereaved with a place of commemoration. The design of the monument anticipates on these multiple meanings and symbolisms by placing an old marble dissection table in the shape of an altar and fixing a bronze sculpture of a phoenix as symbol of imperishableness. Anat Sci Educ.

Restless Feelings: Desiring Direct Contact After Postmortem Organ Donation

This article investigates the emergence of a growing demand in the Netherlands: the wish of organ donor families and organ recipients to establish contact. Such direct contact transgresses both the anonymity and privacy long considered by many to be fundamental to organ donation. Legislation prescribes that privacy should be safeguarded, but the parties involved increasingly manage to find each other. Research is needed to provide insight into the ramifications of direct contact, which may inform mourning counseling and psychosocial support. Drawing on qualitative interviews with donor’s relatives, we analyze the reasons for the desire to have direct contact. We seek to understand how meanings are constructed and contested through organs at the margins of life and death in the individualized and secularized society of the Netherlands. We find that relatives struggle with persistent restless feelings after postmortem organ donation and may develop a level of personal attachment and assign inalienability to human body parts.