115.1: EUDONORGAN - Training and social awareness for increasing organ donation in the European Union and neighbouring countries.

Abstract

Background: EUDONORGAN, a service contract awarded by the European Commission, aims to provide training and increase social awareness in the European Union (EU) and neighbouring countries (NCs) to improve attitude towards organ donation. Methods: Spain, Croatia, Italy and Slovenia joined the project, divided in two core work packages (WPs), WP1: Training and WP2: Social Awareness. In WP1, the training program employed a blended methodology. The beneficiaries included healthcare professionals (HPs) and other key players (OKPs) from the EU and NCs. A survey on attitude towards donation was carried out before and after. In WP2, organ donation data was collected from EU and NCs for the organisation of 6 tailored awareness events. Results: In WP1, 101 participants from 28 countries completed the training (79 HPs, 22 OKPs). The e-learning was evaluated 4,45 (from 1 to 5) the face-to-face 4,44, registering 25,22% of knowledge improvement among HPs and 29,47% among OKPs. In WP2, 6 Member States agreed to organize awareness raising events, held between September 2018 and April 2019. The events involved EU and NCs countries and stakeholders: 95 participants in Warsaw from 4 countries, 49 participants in Budapest from 7 countries, 127 participants in Brussels from 33 countries, 95 participants in Stockholm from 9 countries, 70 participants in Athens from 8 countries (preliminary data), and 63 participants in Lisbon from 6 countries, reaching a total of 499 participants (preliminary data). Conclusions: EUDONORGAN is an innovative cross-sectorial project that aims at improving donation across the European Union and neighbouring countries.