Wrapped in Mourning

Based on 15 years of experience working with organ procurement organizations and donor families, Wrapped in Mourning addresses the heretofore unexplored subject of organ donor family trauma. This book covers the issues surrounding organ donation, including the history of organ transplantation, how organs are procured for transplantation, as well as the medical procedure itself. Each issue is explored with regards to its impact upon donor families. Ways to reduce grief, prevent problems, and increase the benefits of donating organs for the donating family are also discussed.

Sue Holtkamp (Author)

Preface. The History and Context of Organ Donation. The Early Days of Transplantation. Primary Process Thinking. Cultural Issues. Religious Issues. The Ethics of Organ Donation. Organ Procurement and the Organ Donor Family. Becoming a Donor. The Process of Procurement: Organ Procurement Organizations; Procurement Coordinators. Religious, Cultural & Ethnic Values: Impact on Procurement. The Language of Organ Procurement. Other Procurement Issues and their Impact: Allocation of Organs; Rejected or Unused Organs; Stress Related to Timing; Billing Errors; Letters from the Procurement Coordinator; Donor Family-Recipient Contact; Benefits of Organ Donation for the Family. The Organ Donor's Family and the Health Care Professional. The Organ Donor Family and the Hospital Experience. The Organ Donor Family. The Needs of the Donor's Family. Ongoing Support. Dimensions of Compassion and Kindness. Trauma-Driven Grief and the Donor Family. Trauma-Driven Grief and the Organ Donor Family. Risk Factors for Post Traumatic Stress Sudden Loss. Preventability. Violation and Mutilation. Multiple Loss. Parental Loss of a Child. Personal Encounter with Death. Family Dynamics. Family as a Healing Source. The Organ Donor Family - Recipient Relationship. The Donor Family's Need to Know. Linking Objects and the Donor Family. Donor Family -Recipient Communication: History; Current Trends. Risk Factors Related to Lack of Communication. Risk Factors Related to Donor Family-Recipient Contact. Therapeutic Concerns and Donor Family Trauma. Working Through Trauma and Loss: Working Assumptions Regarding Trauma and Loss. The Therapeutic Relationship. The Goals of Therapy. Themes of Traumatic Stress. Frequent Themes of Donor Family Trauma-Driven Grief: Multiple Loss; Parental Loss of a Child; Confusion Associated with Brain Death; Grief Avoidance Behaviors; Issues Related to the Recipient. An Unending Adventure. Trauma, Neurological Death, Donation and Meaning. Donor Family-Recipient Contact. The Power of Prevention. An Unending Search for Knowledge: The Need for Further Study; Problems Attending the Study of Donor Family Grief; Empirical Reductionism vs. Qualitative Observations; Caregivers.