As necessidades da família no processo de doação de órgãos e tecidos: scoping review

Introduction: The process of organ and tissue transplantation has achieved success through its remarkable and swift advances, given that the technical and scientific progress recorded in the last decades in the field of medicine has made it possible to improve significantly the therapeutic possibilities and quality of life of the organ recipient. During the donation process, the organ donor’s family experiences several challenges associated with fear and a lack of information regarding the process, which inspires the need to provide support to the family in dealing with feelings, doubts, and anguish, thus creating a therapeutic relationship. The role of the healthcare team is crucial not only in providing care to the organ donor but also to their family, which is why the family’s experience throughout the donation process has been the subject of discussion in several studies. The identification and recognition by health professionals of the needs of families allows the latter to better adapt to the donation process. Objective: Mapping the organ donor family’s needs during the organ donation process. Methodology: The methodology proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute was used for this scoping review. We considered any articles freely available in full text that included the families of organ donors as the population (P), addressing the concept (C) of the needs of families in the context (C) of organ and tissue donation, in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, without time restrictions. Results: The complete analysis of the seven articles that made up the final sample allowed us to summarize the needs into four categories. The most frequently mentioned were the need for information on the concept of brain death and organ donation, and the need for emotional support, particularly in referring the family to support groups. In addition to these, material and environmental needs were stated, such as consideration for privacy and the existence of a safe and free space for communication with the family. Ultimately the need for follow-up, with family monitoring up to one week after organ donation. Conclusions: By mapping the available evidence of the family’s needs in the organ donation process, four categories emerged: the need for information, the need for emotional support, material and environmental needs, and, finally, the need for follow-up. This scoping review can serve as a basis for future research, leaving the challenge of developing primary studies.