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MOTIVATION FOR BRAIN DONATION
The majority of people involved in the Using our Brains (UoB) donor program are; Australian, young, female, educated, not religious, and have a higher rate of medical illness than the general Australian community. The people in the UoB group are motivated most by the ‘benefit of the research to medicine/science’. Seventy eight percent of people who have consented to brain donation with the UoB program are also donors for organ and tissue transplant purposes.
In a study by another research group, specifically looking at motivating factors for brain donors, the majority of people said they were motivated by the advancement of medicine/research for diseases. The typical donor was also female and had more than thirteen years of education.
In our study the majority of the group had discussed brain donation with their next-of-kin (NOK). In another study less than half of their group had discussed organ donation with a family member. We believe that discussing brain donation with NOK is imperative to the process and we encourage it for those registering with the UoB program. Clearly, this simple measure, discussion within families, is a key factor in helping people decide whether or not to become donors for research purposes as well as transplantation.
Importantly, the UoB group is very involved in other organ and tissue donor programs. This makes a strong statement that people don’t discriminate between the use of organs or tissues for research or transplant use. We believe that the people who ensure that they are active donors for research or transplant, do not care how the organ or tissue is used, as long as all activities in relation to the donation are carried out with respect and dignity.
The current systems to ensure people can be donors for research or transplant are not adequate. We need to remove the distinction between donation for research and donation for transplant. The Australian donor community doesn’t make this distinction between the two areas and are usually unaware of the difference.
We hope to extend the investigation of what motivates our brain donors and aim to be in touch with everyone by 'slow mail' in the next few months.
Therese Garrick
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