Perceptions About Organ Donation Among African American, Hispanic, and White High School Students

Abstract

We applied the Health Belief Model (HBM) to better understand perceptions of organ donation among African American, Hispanic, and White high school students. We conducted 14 focus groups with 18-year-old students to identify strategies to reach this audience when promoting the First-Person Consent Registry (FPCR) for organ donation. We found that African American, Hispanic, and White high school students are largely unaware of the need for organ donors, and are unfamiliar with how to join the FPCR. Participants identified more barriers to joining the FPCR than benefits. Two aspects of self-efficacy emerged related to joining the FPCR: decisional and task efficacy. Overall, few differences were found with respect to organ donation myths across the three ethnic groups. The results are discussed, with an emphasis on how the findings compare and contrast with previous organ donation research. We focus on message design and dissemination strategies for practitioners targeting 18-year-old high school students with organ donation promotional materials.