Promoting the Michigan Organ Donor Registry: Evaluating the Impact of a Multifaceted Intervention Utilizing Media Priming and Communication Design

Abstract

There are currently more than 100,000 individuals waiting for an organ transplant. Organ donor registries represent the easiest and most concrete way for people to declare their intent to donate, but organ donor registries are vastly underutilized. This study reports a campaign intervention designed to increase the rate of joining the Michigan Organ Donor Registry. Grounding intervention development in the theoretical principles of media priming and communication design, the intervention took place in two waves in three counties in Michigan. Each intervention consisted of a media component, point-of-decision materials, and an interpersonal component. Increases in registration rates of 200 to 300% in each intervention county, compared to stable statewide trends in registry rates, provide evidence of highly successful intervention efforts. The rate of registry increase in intervention counties was approximately 1,900% higher than statewide on a per capita basis.

Saving Lives Branch by Branch: The Effectiveness of Driver Licensing Bureau Campaigns to Promote Organ Donor Registry Sign-Ups to African Americans in Michigan

“…Campaigns featuring a combination of media and interpersonal components have been found to be more effective in increasing knowledge, attitudes, norms, intentions, and behaviors toward organ donation than media campaigns alone (Feeley & Moon, 2009;Harrison et al, 2010). More generally, research has suggested that 808…”

Everyday-ing Health Literacy and the Imperative of Health Communication: A Critical Agenda

“…The health care provider is capitalising upon the use of e-technology in forging a closer physicianpatient relationship (Sundar et al 2011). Communications beyond the face-to-face consultation allow patients to receive and share a wider range of clinical information such as chronic disease self-management (Prestin and Chou 2014) and interventional evaluation (Harrison et al 2010). Meanwhile, it is reported the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) communication is useful in developing competence in understanding technical information and in accessing relevant health provider.…”

Increasing the Likelihood of Consent in Deceased Donations: Point-of-Decision Campaigns, Registries, and the Law of Large Numbers

“…The placement of materials was determined by principles of communication design (e.g. Aakhus, 2007;Harrison et al 2010;Jackson, 1998) to encourage positive interactions about organ donation. Materials for each set of interventions modified for the target audiences of each county.…”

“…facebook) are being investigated for their ability to generate new potential donors, the results of those studies are not yet know. However, a series of recent studies (Harrison et al, 2008;Harrison et al, 2010;Harrison et al, 2011;King et al, under review) have demonstrated the ability to overcome this limited reach and provide dramatic increases in the rates of joining organ donor registries (ranging from 200% to over 500% with net increases in the tens of…”