Promoting organ donation through Basic Life Support Training –outcomes from the #conversations study.

Abstract

Background: More than 6000 people are waiting for an organ transplant in the UK. Although a recent change in organ donor legislation to an opt out system is hoped to address this disparity expert review highlights that ‘opt out’ is only one of several factors that impact organ donation rates. Studies show that ethnicity, religion and cultural influences impact opinions towards organ donation. The importance of education is well established and interpersonal educational interventions have been shown to be more effective than mass media approaches to changing behaviour around organ donation. This study evaluates the impact of an educational intervention delivered with Basic Life Support training prior to the change in legislation to positively influence views on organ donation.Methods: An educational film promoting organ donation was developed from patient’s stories, evaluated, reviewed and embedded into BLS training. All staff attending BLS training were invited to participate in the study, complete a baseline survey, watch the film and complete another survey 3-5 working days after the training.Results: During the study period 338 attended BLS training, 8 out of 10 agreed to participate in the study, 6 out of 10 stayed behaving for the intervention and 3 out of 10 completed all stages of the study. Support for organ donation was almost universal in the baseline survey and of those who completed the study, >9 out of 10 felt the intervention had helped them understand the need for organ donation and 1 in 2 had subsequently discussed organ donation with their family and friends. 1 in 4 did not support the forthcoming change in organ donation legislation.Conclusions: A brief targeted intervention delivered through BLS training is effective in promoting discussion and improves support for organ donation. The mandatory nature of BLS training reduces bias in engagement and offers huge potential for delivery of a limited intervention around organ donation at pace and scale. Further understanding of NHS staff awareness of and opinions to the change in organ donation legislation is warranted. Trial Registration#conversations was prospectively registered with the ISRCTN on 23/01/2019.ISRCTN 36338010IRAS project ID 233611