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A qualitative study exploring the process of postmortem brain tissue donation after suicide
Carolina Stopinski Padoan1, Lucas França Garcia2, Kleber Cardoso Crespo1
1Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Centro de Pesquisa Clínica, Faculty of Medicine, Graduate Program in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Respectful brain donation requests after suicide can help grieving families find solace. This research explores the donation process, offering insights for sensitive communication and supporting families in contributing to neuropsychiatric disorder research.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Genetics
Background:
- Postmortem brain tissue is crucial for understanding neuropsychiatric disorders.
- Obtaining consent for brain donation after suicide is challenging due to family distress.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the process of requesting brain donation from families bereaved by suicide.
- To identify factors that facilitate or hinder consent for brain donation.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative study using in-depth interviews with 41 individuals approached for brain donation (32 consented, 9 refused).
- Grounded theory approach for data collection and analysis.
Main Results:
- Five key themes emerged: family context, invitation process, request protocol experience, participant assessment, and healing through participation.
- Families viewed respectful and tactful requests as non-distressing.
- Brain donation was seen as a way to transform the meaning of death and find solace.
Conclusions:
- Sensitive communication is vital when requesting brain donation after suicide.
- Brain donation can offer bereaved families a meaningful way to cope and contribute to research.
- Findings inform best practices for conducting brain donation requests.
