Willingness to donate organs - Strategies to influence attitude

Abstract

While organ shortage remains one of the major problems in the treatment of many terminally ill patients with more than 13 000 patients currently on the waiting list in Germany, surveys are showing positive attitude towards organ donation in the general population. In this paper, several possible explanations for this apparent contradiction are discussed. Considering the fact that organ donation is supported by a vast majority in the general population while the donation rate remains considerably low, the significance of mass media campaigns to support donation is re-evaluated. Empirical studies have shown that the support for organ donation can hardly be further increased by campaigns. However, it has been shown that involvement with the topic may be increased significantly. This may play an important role because high involvement seems to be associated with actual behavior (e.g. signing a donor card). Since the donation rate is influenced by a whole array of factors, we argue that it may only be increased by using an "orchestra" of coordinated strategies. Such an orchestra is outlined and the role of mass media campaigns discussed within such a concept.