Predictors for African Americans’ willingness to donate organs: A literature review

While African Americans comprise a disproportionate share of the organ transplant waiting list, they only represent a small percentage of actual donors. The purpose of this article is to critically appraise predictive factors of African Americans’ willingness to donate organs, as well as offer suggestions for program development and future research. A focused search of the published literature between 2005-2010 identified three predictive variables: 1) trust in some facet of the healthcare system, 2) conversations with loved ones about actual donation or donation intentions, and 3) a belief that someone important to the subject thinks the participant’s donation decisions are important. Understanding the predictive factors of African Americans’ willingness to donate organs is important to design targeted programs to increase the volume of compatible organ donors and to support future nursing research.