Care and Support for Organ Donor Families

This report describes the importance of perceiving brain death as “terminal phase of life in the acute stage” when medical professionals provide care and support to the donor family, while considering the significance for the donor family to overcome their grief and consent to organ donation when their loved one is unfortunately pronounced brain dead. From the terminal phase viewpoint, the basic treatment toward the patient’s family should be considered the same regardless of whether or not there is organ donation. Then, if organ donation is decided, the donor family must be treated with special considerations. This report points out the key points and problems involved when pronouncing brain death and presenting the option of organ donation during the entire process from the donation until leaving the hospital. In acute care that has no time to spare, it is important to repeatedly explain the seriousness of the patient’s condition including the possibility of death from a relatively early stage and to provide sufficient explanation and consultation when faced with difficult decisions, such as the diagnosis of brain death, the propriety of life-sustaining treatment, and the option of organ donation.