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

摘要

The academic study of philanthropy has focused on the public good from private actionand includes the study of the public good of improving health and studies of the variousdeterminants of giving. Yet one very obvious act of giving in the health field has beenlargely neglected in philanthropic studies: the donation of the body, such as blood andtissue donation, organ donation, and the donation of one’s body for medical research oreducation. In August 2003, a research team at the Indiana University Center forBioethics conducted a study of these two aspects of philanthropy as part of a projecttitled Health Related Philanthropy: The Donation of the Body (and Parts Thereof). Thisarticle describes the project and summarizes the results of a national survey conductedas part of that project.