The importance of talking to family members about organ donation is the researchfocus for Griffith University’s Dr Melissa Hyde.

Set to speak tomorrow (March 1) as part of DonateLife week 2013 (February 24— March 3), Dr Hyde, from Griffith’s Behaviourial Basis of Health, will discussthe barriers to family communication about organ donation and how these may beovercome.

“The family of every potential donor is always asked to give their consent todonation if the situation arises,” says Dr Hyde.“Families that do not know the wishes of their loved ones are less likely to givetheir consent.

Registration is not enough

“Registering to be an organ and tissue donor is not enough. Even if you registeryour wish to be a donor, your family will still be asked to give consent.”Dr Hyde’s seminar Organ donation: Not something you talk about at the dinnertable? will also detail her current research which is looking at young donors’ viewson family discussion about the issue.

“We know that young people are the least likely to talk about donation comparedwith other age groups for a very wide range of reasons.

“We conducted a three phase study of 470 17-25 year old people from SEQueensland – all of which have registered as organ donors — and trialled differentmethods of encouraging them to discuss the topic with their family.

“We have seen that it is not enough to simply tell people to discuss organdonation; we need to build in reminders and strategies within targeted campaignsto initiate these conversations.”

The majority (86%) of Australians surveyed would agree to donation if they knewtheir family member was willing to become an organ donor; yet, only 56% ofpeople would agree to donation if the wishes of the deceased were unknown.

SEMINAR DETAILS:
DATE: Friday March 1, 3pm
VENUE: Mt Gravatt campus, Griffith University, 176 Messines Ridge Road, MtGravatt QLD . Building M24 Room 3.11A. The seminar will also be video-conferenced to Gold Coast Campus, G06 Room 3.60
Please RSVP to [email protected]