Health-Related Philanthropy: Toward Understanding the Relationship Between the Donation of the Body (and Its Parts) and Traditional Forms of Philanthropic Giving

Abstract

The academic study of philanthropy has focused on the public good from private action and includes the study of the public good of improving health and studies of the various determinants of giving. Yet one very obvious act of giving in the health field has been largely neglected in philanthropic studies: the donation of the body, such as blood and tissue donation, organ donation, and the donation of one’s body for medical research or education. In August 2003, a research team at the Indiana University Center for Bioethics conducted a study of these two aspects of philanthropy as part of a project titled Health Related Philanthropy: The Donation of the Body (and Parts Thereof). This article describes the project and summarizes the results of a national survey conducted as part of that project.