In the United States, approximately 18 people die each day waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, and every 13 minutes a new name is added to the national waiting list. Those who become organ donors have the opportunity to save up to eight lives and reduce the shortage of organs available for transplant.
To spread the word about how organ donors can save lives, students in a Stanford political science class launched a new public-health awareness campaign. While developing the initiative, called Stanford Life Savers, students polled their peers to understand public perception about organ donation. (They found fear was the number one reason people don't register as donors; religious concerns also sometimes came into play.) As noted in a Stanford Report story published today, conducting the survey was eye-opening for students:
Nicole DeMont, a master's student in communication, said she was surprised to discover how much misinformation exists. "It is important that people know the truth about organ donation so they'll be more willing to register," she said.
The more people learn, the more likely they are to support organ donations, she said. It helps that now one can register online to make organ donations – in the past in California, one could only do so at the Department of Motor Vehicles, DeMont added.
DeMont and her classmates created more than a dozen videos, such as the one above, to address individuals' concerns and encourage more people register as organ donors.
Previously: Closing the racial gap for life-saving transplants, Record number of organ transplants saves five lives in a day, Film about twin sisters’ double lung transplants and battle against cystic fibrosis available online and Pediatric social worker discusses the emotional side of heart transplants
