Rural Georgians’ Perspectives on Organ Donation

Abstract According to the databases utilized by the organ procurement organization, whose donation service area is Georgia (LifeLink Foundation of Georgia), Irwin, Ben Hill, and Coffee counties reported disproportionately low organ donation rates relative to other counties within the state of Georgia. The three counties have an aggregate population of about 70,000 citizens, and there have been roughly 50 cases or less of organ donation within the most recent decade (Data USA, 2024, https://datausa.io/ ). This is a qualitative study of rural Georgians’ perspectives on organ donation. This study identifies cultural and religious beliefs that influence perspectives and explores lines of rationale that people demonstrate regarding hesitancy to organ donation in these communities. 21 one-on-one interviews were conducted with the participants. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Data analysis, adopted from A Step-By-Step Guide to Qualitative Data Coding, involved manual coding of interview transcripts to gather insights and identify trends with intent to establish themes (A step-by-step guide to qualitative data coding, Taylor & Francis Group, 2019). After analyzing the data, four themes were identified: (1) little knowledge and promotion suggestions, (2) religious ambiguity, (3) overall positivity despite skepticism and misconceptions about the donation process, and (4) limited awareness of organ donation.