JOURNAL OF TRANSCULTURAL NURSING / July 2001Wittig / ORGAN DONATION BELIEFS Organ Donation Beliefs of African American Women Residing in a Small Southern Community

There is a widening gap between the supply of available human organs and the critical number needed for transplants in the United States. For African Americans, the waiting period is about twice that of non–African Americans. Con-tributing to this situation is that organ donation among Afri-can Americans is less frequent than that among the general population. The purpose of this study was to discover the cul-ture care beliefs, meanings, and practices of selected African American women regarding organ donation. Using the ethnonursing research method, data were collected through lengthy community visits and in-depth interviews. Two cul-tural and social structure dimensions, kinship ties and reli-gion, were discovered to be most influential for these African American women. This study focused on the significance these dimensions play in the decision to donate an organ