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This paper describes the process evaluation of an organ donation education program for high school students aged 15-18 years of which the effectiveness was established. The program consisted of three components: a video with group discussion, an interactive computer-tailored program and a registration training session. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 50 teachers who had recently worked with the program. The results show that all teachers reported to have implemented at least two of the three intervention components, while a majority of teachers reported to have implemented all components. Teachers' attitudes toward the program were generally positive. They reported that the opinions of students and colleagues in their own department were most influential in their decision to provide the education program. Furthermore, teachers were very confident about their ability to apply the different parts of the education program. The educational quality of the program was evaluated as moderately positive and almost all teachers had the intention to use the program again in the future. Because of the positive evaluations and intentions for future implementation by teachers, and justified by its previously established effectiveness, the education program should be considered for large-scale dissemination among high schools in The Netherlands. (Contains 5 tables.)

The present paper describes the impact and evaluation of two intervention components—a video with group discussion and an interactive computer-tailored program—in order to encourage adolescents to register their organ donation preference. Studies were conducted in school during regular school hours. The video with group discussion in class had a positive impact on the intention to register an organ donation preference as well as on the intention to register as a posthumous organ donor. The computer-tailored program had no surplus value when compared to reading an extensive brochure with general information on organ donation. However, participants appreciated the tailored information more than the brochure. It may be that having provided general information before exposure to the tailored program, the tailored intervention will be more effective. This needs to be tested in a further experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1998, a new organ donor registration system was implemented in the Netherlands to increase the number of potential donors. A high school education program was developed to prepare adolescents to make an informed decision about organ donation. A post-test only randomised controlled trial was conducted in 39 high schools including 2868 students. Students within schools were randomly allocated to either attend the organ donation education program or not. The impact of the program on students' intention to register their organ donation preference (and determinants thereof) were analysed using multivariate multileveling modelling (MlwiN). The results show that students who were exposed to the education program had more favourable registration intentions (B = .40), were more often willing to be donors (OR = 1.45), and had greater knowledge about (B = 3.84) and more positive social outcome expectations (B = .09) and self-efficacy regarding organ donation registration (B=.22). Lastly, they experienced significantly less negative outcome expectations related to organ donation registration (B = -.15). Students' evaluation of the school-based education program was favourable. The present organ donation registration program proved to be effective in changing determinants of organ donation registration, and a large-scale implementation in the Dutch high school curriculum is planned.

Every year some 700 new patients and 150 patients in whom a transplanted kidney is no longer functioning are placed on the waiting list for kidney transplantation. Per year some 400 cadaver kidneys and 100 kidneys from relatives and partners are transplanted in the Netherlands, resulting in an annual shortage of 350 kidneys. By 'non-heart-beating donor' is meant a subject deceased after cardiac arrest, in contradiction to the brain-dead donor. In non-heart-beating donors it is possible via a catheter in the inguinal artery to occlude the aorta above and below the kidney level, following which the kidneys may be perfused with a refrigerated fluid and preserved. In this way, time is gained to obtain consent for transplantation from the relatives or to find it in the donor registration. A kidney originating from a non-heart-beating donor relatively often starts to function only late after transplantation, or even does not begin to function at all. Nevertheless, the number of kidneys becoming available in this way suffices to eliminate the current shortage of donor kidneys. The Organ Donation Law allows cooling of the kidneys in the cadaver in expectation of consent for organ donation. It appears necessary to carry out a test of kidneys of non-heart-beating donors to avoid transplantation of non-viable kidneys.