College students perceptions about organ donation

Abstract

The current process of organ donation in the U.S. relies on the premise of altruism or voluntary consent. Various methods have been proposed to increase the number of available donors. Most recently, the idea of providing financial compensation for cadaveric donations has been proposed.The literature has suggested that potential donor pools include those who are young, educated and have a higher socioeconomic status (MorgansMiller, 2002). College students can potentially represent the largest available group of potential healthy organ donors. The impetus for this study stemmed from several sources. First, the college has undertaken an aggressive health and wellness initiative aimed at improving college students’ lifestyles and encouraging healthy behaviors.Second, the previous literature suggests that issues related to signed donor cards, financial compensation for families of organ donors may be an area for further research, particularly among college students.A four page closed-ended survey was developed to measure college students’ knowledge about organ donation in general and their attitudes toward organ donation. In addition, students were asked to respond to four different case scenarios in which two variables were manipulated: whether an individual had a signed donor card, and whether the family would receive money for donation. A total of 250 surveys were randomly distributed across the campus of a small women’s college in eastern Pennsylvania. Preliminary results indicate that students’ knowlege about organ donation is minimal and additional education is necessary. It appears that the dissemination of information may positively affect their attitudes toward organ donation and increase the liklihood of donating. Findings indicate that the presence of a signed donor card and compensation for donating do in fact make a difference. The implications of these results will be discussed.