Abstract
Organ and tissue donation can also involve children. Because of its sensitivity, this topic requires careful decision making. Children have the ability to carefully reflect on this subject and enjoy participating in family discussions about it. Therefore, what children need is proper information. When schools are used to educate children about this subject, information about teacher support for this type of lesson along with its effects on the depth of family discussions is important. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to all 7,542 primary schools in the Netherlands. The goal was to gather information on teachers’ perspectives about a neutral lesson devoted to organ and tissue donation, and also on the best age to start giving such a lesson. The second part of our study examined the effects of a newly developed lesson among 269 primary school pupils. The school response was 23%. Of these, 70% were positive towards a lesson; best age to start was 10–11 years. Pupils reported 20% more family discussions after school education and enjoyed learning more about this topic. There is significant support in primary schools for a school lesson on organ and tissue donation. Educational programs in schools support family discussions.
Highlights
Donation and transplantation are discussed predominately in the context of care for adults [1]
We wanted to know the extent to which primary school teachers feel the need for an educational program about organ donation and we examined the effects that such a lesson would have on children in terms of increase of knowledge and family discussions with the children
We investigated factors that could potentially be associated to support for a lesson on organ donation in school
Summary
Donation and transplantation are discussed predominately in the context of care for adults [1]. When family members must decide about organ donation, as surrogate decision-makers, knowledge of the deceased’s intentions influences their decision [2,3,4]. Most parents do not discuss organ donation with their children children are willing to discuss this topic [5]. Parents often have to make a donation decision for their child, without.
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