School education to increase organ donation and awareness of issues in transplantation in the UK
Funding information
Catherine Cookson Foundation grant, which enabled We Are Donors to be founded and school presentations to be given.
Abstract
Background
Over 6000 people are on the United Kingdom organ transplant waiting list, and approximately three people die each day due to a lack of donors. Social deprivation status has been shown to affect registration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of school level education at increasing awareness of the issues surrounding organ donation and organ donor registration, and the effect of socioeconomic deprivation and age has on these outcomes.
Methods
A 15-minute presentation about organ donation and the issues in transplantation was given to secondary school students from the United Kingdom. An optional questionnaire was then distributed.
Results
1155 paper questionnaires were completed from nine schools. The average age was 15.5 (SD = 0.5) years. Before the presentation, 10% of students were on the ODR. Following the presentation, the number of students who were on the ODR or planned to join significantly increased to 56%, independent of age (P < 0.0001). Similarly, there was a significant increase in Likert scores for awareness of the issues in transplantation, independent of age (P < 0.0001).
Conclusions
This early educational presentation significantly increased awareness of the issues in transplantation and planned organ donor registration, independent of age and deprivation.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
This work was completed as part We Are Donors, a charity that aims to educate and increase awareness about organ donation at school and university level. MB, MS, JoM, JaM are Trustees. MB, MS, JoM, JaM, and CW are members of the National Steering Committee. No authors receive monetary reimbursement for their roles.
