Objectives: It is widely accepted that body donation programs should obtain informed consent from prospective donors during life. However, consent forms vary in detail, are typically developed by anatomical and legal experts, and may not include features valued by prospective donors. Concomitantly, anatomy students report concerns that prospective donors are not adequately informed about dissection procedures. To address these issues, this study aimed to bring together prospective body donors, anatomy students, anatomy educators and a governance expert to co-design a donor-centred consent process.
Methods: Utilising participatory co-design, focus group discussions were used to explore participants’ perspectives on informed donor consent. The facilitator worked with participants to identify priorities for inclusion in donor consent processes. Framework analysis is being used to analyse data, and priorities identified in each group will inform the development of a draft donor consent process, on which further participant feedback will be sought.
Results: Forty-one people expressed interest in study participation. Two focus groups (n=11 participants) have been held, wherein prospective body donors emphasised their desire for their bodies to contribute to anatomical education, including dissection and representation in educational resources. Group members agreed consent forms should explicitly detail how donor bodies are utilised for learning and include personalised elements such as naming preferences. Further focus groups are planned for September and October 2023.
Conclusion: This ongoing study is expected to yield recommendations for community involvement in developing body donor program consent processes, and how community participation can enhance educational activities, such as preparing students for dissection.
Keywords: body donation; co-design; ethics; informed consent; qualitative
Ethical statement: This research was approved by the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (Project ID 37141).
Funding statement: This research is funded by a Monash University internal grant.