FAMILIES involved in organ donation look set to be offered more support, thanks to a new study at the University of Southampton.

The research is looking at why some families agree to organ donation after the death of a relative, but others decline.

Results from the study suggest that there are four key issues influencing relatives' decision.

These are the knowledge that their loved one supported organ donation, that the extended family held either neutral or positive views on donation, the idea of giving some meaning to the death and events in hospital that contributed to a positive experience of care of the donor and themselves.

A three-year project investigating the bereavement experience of donor and non-donor families, in association with the British Organ Donor Society, is currently being supported by a £163,000 National Lottery Community Fund grant.

Tracy Long and Dr Magi Sque, from the university's School of Nursing and Midwifery, are two years into the project.