An education programme promoting organ donation for 13–14 year old schoolchildren

Summary: Many programmes have attempted community education in organ donation. Too often these 'preach to the converted' or concentrate on special interest groups, thus failing to widely influence community perceptions of transplantation and organ donation.
As 13–14 year old children appear sufficiently mature to be receptive to challenging ideas yet may not yet have developed fixed biases or opinions to impair concept assimilation, an educational package dealing with dialysis/transplantation and organ donation was tested in two evenly aged, socio-economic and sex matched student groups at this age level in a single co-educational school. One group only was exposed to a 3 h comprehensive course in renal structure and function, dialysis and transplantation. the two groups were assessed 1 year later by questionnaire to test the retention of information and, more importantly, to compare attitudes to organ donation.
Statistically significant differences characterized the knowledge of and attitudes towards dialysis and transplantation between the two groups. In particular, the tutored group was much more likely to agree to organ donation by self ( P <0.009) or by relatives ( P <0.03) when compared to the untutored group.
This study demonstrates that a short, simple education course for 13–14 year old students can favourably change their perceptions and attitudes towards organ donation. the wider application of similar courses may have a positive impact upon dialysis and transplantation awareness and, ultimately, on national donor rates, becoming a useful addition to national strategies to increase organ donation.