Hong Kong Chinese perceptions of the experience of unrelated bone marrow donation

This paper presents a qualitative perspective of the Chinese experience of unrelated bone marrow donation. A total population of 37 Chinese men and wo men, residing in Hong Kong who had donated bone marrow to an unrelated reci pient were interviewed and asked their retrospective perceptions and experi ences during the process of unrelated bone marrow donation. The majority wa s female (60%) and single (59.3%). The median age was 30.9 years. The main themes drawn from thematic content analysis included: association with bad and good fortune, religious concerns associated with complete bodies, barri ers posed by the extended family, Fulfilling personal identities linked to perceptions of altruism, reciprocity and generosity and the differences bet ween the expectations and reality of the experience of bone marrow donation . These accounts indicate how, for Chinese populations, the act of body flu id donation cannot be isolated from the experiences of life-long immersion in the dominant social and cultural processes of the time. In addition, Con fucian notions of the body, the power of body fluids to pollute, the import ance of blood and bones as sources of vital energy and the process of bodil y transference into the after life are highlighted. Furthermore, what is al so identifiably Chinese is that donation is more of a self-fulfilling act t han a social act with very little familial or social recognition being acco rded in the public world. The conclusion highlights how donors entered into the decision to donate with little awareness of the long-term consequences , The process, however, was seen by the donors to be beneficial. A compelli ng argument is made for more educational and emotional support regarding th e experience of bone marrow donation from Hong Kong's formal service provid ers. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.