How context affects people’s willingness to register for the deceased organ donation programme

BACKGROUND: The deceased organ donation programme is new in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and to improve acceptability, a broad understanding of public perspectives is thought to be helpful. Therefore, this study aims to explore the extent to which context plays a role in the willingness to register for the deceased organ donation programme in Dubai, UAE. METHODS: This study used a qualitative methodology and was gauged by the tenets of a social ecological model and lay knowledge. Audio-recorded semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 participants. The data were subsequently analysed thematically. RESULTS: Four themes emerged from the dataset: fear and body integrity, family, relational ties and the identification of the recipient, religious conviction, and knowledge and personal experiences. The participants feared the whole process, were not aware of the religious outlook, and their knowledge regarding the programme was scarce. In addition, family-related factors, such as parental authority and hierarchy in the family, were also major influencers. CONCLUSION: Using the social ecological model and lay knowledge helped to unravel the contextual factors that affected the willingness of participants to register for the deceased organ donation programme in Dubai, UAE, thereby enabling the development of a holistic understanding of deceased organ donation. The responses mainly stemmed from participants’ social contexts; hence, awareness campaigns should be tailored to inform people about the technical aspects and address their contextual concerns. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-021-10753-5.