Changing college student perceptions and participation in organ donation: A classroom and service learning intervention

Each day an average of 18 people die from the lack of available organs for transplantation and the demand for organ, eye and tissue donation continues to vastly exceed the number of available donors. The single most effective method in addressing this issue remains programmatic efforts to encourage and support organ donation. The purpose of this article is to introduce a creative and comprehensive approach to enhance awareness, participation and organ donor registry among young adults. The programmatic intervention utilized a service learning model within a Freshman Year Seminar course focused on organ donation. The partnership between classroom-based curriculum and experiential learning served to increase knowledge and enhance positive attitudes toward organ donation, as measured by pre-post tests and student reflections in portfolio assessments. The number of organ donor registrants was increased as a result of student outreach activities. Results are discussed in terms of implications for increasing donation.