Beyond "altruism motivates body donation"

Body Donation Registration in Taiwan: Reasons and Associated Psychological Factors

Dissection is an essential element of medical training and depends on the availability of cadavers. However, traditional Chinese culture widely regards the body as a gift from one’s parents that should remain intact after death, resulting in a shortage of cadavers for medical training and research. This situation changed in Taiwan when Master Cheng Yen, the founder of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, supported the donation of bodies to medical science. This study aimed to investigate the current situation of body donation in Taiwan, including donors’ motivation and psychological characteristics. A questionnaire was conducted with 681 adult participants, including 336 people who pledged to donate their bodies to medical science after death and a control group comparable in age, gender, and level of education. All participants answered questions regarding anxiety over death, purpose in life, gratitude, altruism, and life satisfaction. In addition, the registered donor group answered questions regarding the motivation for donating their bodies to science. The main influencing factors were to help advance medical science, make a positive contribution to society, and release attachment from the body. Further, many male participants indicated the desire to reduce trouble and expenses that their families would incur in making funeral and burial or cremation arrangements. The main predictors of donating one’s body to medical science were low anxiety concerning death, a high level of altruism, and gratitude.

Understanding beliefs, preferences and actions amongst potential body donors

Body donation is a prosocial act providing a unique learning experience to students, ultimately impacting on patient care and science. With an increasing number of training professionals, there is an increasing need for body donors, yet little is understood about donors' beliefs and preferences. A four-center study aimed to understand donors' perceptions, 843 responses highlighted a significant relationship between completing a body donor consent form and being both an organ donor and having ever donated blood (p < 0.01). In exploring donor intentions, 69% had been considering donation for fewer than five years, 40% knew another body donor, and 27% had a family member or friend currently registered. Of those who had requested donor information packs, 97% had completed body donation consent forms. Of these, 92% had not selected any time restriction for their donation and 96% had consented to images being taken. Almost all (98%) were aware that their donation might not be accepted. Donors' motives highlighted a wish to: improve education, improve health care, advance science, and contribute to the greater good. A bimodal response was observed with body donation being used to save relatives money and inconvenience. Donors felt comfortable with their bodies being used by medical, dental, and allied health professionals; however, donors were less comfortable with their bodies being used by other groups. Only 57% were comfortable with artists, beauticians and yoga teachers using their remains. Understanding donors' motivations and decision-making process is vital to ensure resources for future and to meet any changing requirements of both donors and those studying them.