Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mass media campaigns and organ donation: managing conflicting messages and interests

  • Scientific Contributions
  • Published:
Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mass media campaigns are widely and successfully used to change health decisions and behaviors for better or for worse in society. In the United States, media campaigns have been launched at local offices of the states’ department of motor vehicles to promote citizens’ willingness to organ donation and donor registration. We analyze interventional studies of multimedia communication campaigns to encourage organ-donor registration at local offices of states’ department of motor vehicles. The media campaigns include the use of multifaceted communication tools and provide training to desk clerks in the use of scripted messages for the purpose of optimizing enrollment in organ-donor registries. Scripted messages are communicated to customers through mass audiovisual entertainment media, print materials and interpersonal interaction at the offices of departments of motor vehicles. These campaigns give rise to three serious concerns: (1) bias in communicating information with scripted messages without verification of the scientific accuracy of information, (2) the provision of misinformation to future donors that may result in them suffering unintended consequences from consenting to medical procedures before death (e.g, organ preservation and suitability for transplantation), and (3) the unmanaged conflict of interests for organizations charged with implementing these campaigns, (i.e, dual advocacy for transplant recipients and donors). We conclude the following: (1) media campaigns about healthcare should communicate accurate information to the general public and disclose factual materials with the least amount of bias; (2) conflicting interests in media campaigns should be managed with full public transparency; (3) media campaigns should disclose the practical implications of procurement as well as acknowledge the medical, legal, and religious controversies of determining death in organ donation; (4) organ-donor registration must satisfy the criteria of informed consent; (5) media campaigns should serve as a means of public education about organ donation and should not be a form of propaganda.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anker, A.E., and T.H. Feeley. 2011a. Asking the difficult questions: Message strategies used by organ procurement coordinators in requesting familial consent to organ donation. Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives 16(6): 643–659.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anker, A.E., and T.H. Feeley. 2011b. Difficult communication: Compliance-gaining strategies of organ procurement coordinators. Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives 16(4): 372–392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bedir, A., and S. Aksoy. 2011. Brain death revisited: It is not ‘complete death’ according to Islamic sources. Journal of Medical Ethics 37(5): 290–294.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bell, M. 2010. Early identification of the potential organ donor: Fundamental role of intensive care or conflict of interest? Intensive Care Medicine 36(9): 1451–1453.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bratton, S.L., N.S. Kolovos, E.S. Roach, V. McBride, J.L. Geiger, and R.L. Meyers. 2006. Pediatric organ transplantation needs: Organ donation best practices. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 160(5): 468–472.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bresnahan, M.J., and K. Mahler. 2010. Ethical debate over organ donation in the context of brain death. Bioethics 24(2): 54–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Busl, K., and D. Greer. 2009. Pitfalls in the diagnosis of brain death. Neurocritical Care 11(2): 276–287.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chapital, A.B., M.Y. Rady, D.J. Johnson, and J.L. Verheijde. 2009. Futility and end-of-life organ donation after traumatic injuries: Caring for organs or patients. Archives of Surgery 144(1): 91–92.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Delimiting death. 2009. Nature 461(7264): 570.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donate Life America. 2010. National donor designation from http://www.donatelife.net/index.php.

  • Dutta, M.J. 2010. The critical cultural turn in health communication: Reflexivity, solidarity, and praxis. Health Communication 25(6): 534–539.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Festle, M.J. 2010. Enemies or allies? The organ transplant medical community, the federal government, and the public in the United States, 1967–2000. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 65(1): 48–80.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Glick, R.S., E.A. Braun, and J. Potash. 2009. Accommodating religious and moral objections to neurological death. The Journal of Clinical Ethics 20(2): 183–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, D.M., P.N. Varelas, S. Haque, and E.F.M. Wijdicks. 2008. Variability of brain death determination guidelines in leading US neurologic institutions. Neurology 70(7): 284–289.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, T.R., S.E. Morgan, and M.J. Di Corcia. 2008. Effects of information, education, and communication training about organ donation for gatekeepers: Clerks at the Department of Motor Vehicles and organ donor registries. Progress in Transplantation 18(4): 301–309.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, T.R., S.E. Morgan, A.J. King, M.J. Di Corcia, E.A. Williams, R.K. Ivic, et al. 2010. Promoting the Michigan organ donor registry: Evaluating the Impact of a multifaceted intervention utilizing media priming and communication design. Health Communication 25(8): 700–708.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, T.R., S.E. Morgan, A.J. King, and E.A. Williams. 2011. Saving lives branch by branch: The effectiveness of driver licensing bureau campaigns to promote organ donor registry sign-ups to African Americans in Michigan. Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives 16(8): 805–819.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horton, R.L., and P.J. Horton. 1990. Knowledge regarding organ donation: Identifying and overcoming barriers to organ donation. Social Science and Medicine 31(7): 791–800.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Horton, R.L., and P.J. Horton. 1991. A model of willingness to become a potential organ donor. Social Science and Medicine 33(9): 1037–1051.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Joffe, A.R. 2009. Brain death is not death: A critique of the concept, criterion, and tests of brain death. Reviews in the Neurosciences 20(3–4): 187–198.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jotkowitz, A. 2008. Theological reflections on donation after circulatory death: The wisdom of Paul Ramsey and Moshe Feinstein. Journal of Medical Ethics 34(10): 706–709.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karakatsanis, K.G. 2008. Brain death: Should it be reconsidered? Spinal Cord 46(6): 396–401.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keown, D. 2010. Buddhism, brain death, and organ transplantation. Journal of Buddhist Ethics 17: 1–35. Retrieved from http://www.buddhistethics.org/17-2010/keown.html.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohn, R., G. Rubenfeld, M. Levy, P. Ubel, and S. Halpern. 2011. Rule of rescue or the good of the many? An analysis of physicians’ and nurses’ preferences for allocating ICU beds. Intensive Care Medicine 37(7): 1210–1217.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kon, A.A. 2010. The shared decision-making continuum. JAMA 304(8): 903–904.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lessard, M., and J. Brochu. 2010. Challenges in diagnosing brain death. Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d’anesthésie 57(10): 882–887.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luskin, R.S., A.K. Glazier, and F.L. Delmonico. 2008. Organ donation and dual advocacy. The New England Journal of Medicine 358(12): 1297–1298.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Machado, C., J. Perez-Nellar, M. Estevez, E. Gonzalez, J.S. Jeret, D.A. Shewmon, et al. 2011. Evidence-based guideline update: Determining brain death in adults: Report of the quality standards subcommittee of the American academy of neurology. Neurology 76(3): 307–309.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McGregor, J.L., J.L. Verheijde, and M.Y. Rady. 2008. The entertainment media framing of organ donation: Second-Hand reality balancing the ideological bias of education campaigns. Health Communication 23(4): 394–395.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 2011. Merriam-webster online. Retrieved 20 February, 2011, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/.

  • Morgan, S.E., and T.R. Harrison. 2010. The impact of health communication research on organ donation outcomes in the United States. Health Communication 25(6): 589–592.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, S.E., T.R. Harrison, W.A. Afifi, S.D. Long, and M.T. Stephenson. 2008. In their own words: The reasons why people will (Not) sign an organ donor card. Health Communication 23(1): 23–33.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morse, C.R., W.A. Afifi, S.E. Morgan, M.T. Stephenson, T. Reichert, T.R. Harrison, et al. 2009. Religiosity, anxiety, and discussions about organ donation: Understanding a complex system of associations. Health Communication 24(2): 156–164.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nair-Collins, M. 2010. Death, brain death, and the limits of science: Why the whole-brain concept of death is a flawed public policy. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 38(3): 667–683.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. 1981. The uniform determination of death act 1981. Retrieved 20 Feb 2011, from http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/ulc/fnact99/1980s/udda80.htm.

  • Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. 2011. Organ donation breakthrough collaboratives. Retrieved 20 Feb 2011, from http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/optn/breakthroughCollaborative.asp.

  • Organ Procurement Organization Committee. 2011. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Proposal to change the term “Consent” to “Authorization” throughout policy when used in reference to organ donation. Retrieved 10 October, 2011 from http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/PublicComment/pubcommentPropSub_297.pdf

  • Padela, A.I., H. Shanawani, and A. Arozullah. 2011. Medical experts & Islamic scholars deliberating over brain death: Gaps in the applied Islamic bioethics discourse. The Muslim World 101(1): 53–72.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Powner, D.J. 2009. Certification of brain death: Take care. The Lancet 373(9675): 1587–1589.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rady, M.Y., and J.L. Verheijde. 2010. General Anesthesia for surgical procurement in non-heart-beating organ donation: Why we should care. Anesthesia and Analgesia 111(6): 1562.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rady, M.Y., J.L. Verheijde, and J.L. McGregor. 2010. Scientific, legal, and ethical challenges of end-of-life organ procurement in emergency medicine. Resuscitation 81(9): 1069–1078.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, D., K. MacCulloch, E. Versnick, and R. Hall. 2010. Should ancillary brain blood flow analyses play a larger role in the neurological determination of death? Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal Canadien d’anesthésie 57(10): 927–935.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigue, J.R., D.L. Cornell, and R.J. Howard. 2008. Pediatric organ donation: What factors most influence parents’ donation decisions? Pediatric Critical Care Medicine 9(2): 180–185.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez-Arias, D., M.J. Smith, and N.M. Lazar. 2011. Donation after circulatory death: Burying the dead donor rule. American Journal of Bioethics 11(8): 36–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez-Arias, D., L. Wright, and D. Paredes. 2010. Success factors and ethical challenges of the Spanish Model of organ donation. The Lancet 376(9746): 1109–1112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryckman, R.M., B. Thornton, B. Van Den Borne, and J.A. Gold. 2004. Intrinsic-extrinsic religiosity and university students’ willingness to donate organs posthumously. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 34(1): 196–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salim, A., C. Berry, E.J. Ley, D. Schulman, C. Desai, S. Navarro, et al. 2011. In-house coordinator programs improve conversion rates for organ donation. The Journal of Trauma 71(3): 733–736.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salim, A., C. Brown, K. Inaba, A. Mascarenhas, P. Hadjizacharia, P. Rhee, et al. 2007. Improving consent rates for organ donation: The effect of an inhouse coordinator program. Journal of Trauma Injury Infection & Critical Care 62(6): 1411–1415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sayani, D. 2011. Colorado proposes “Presumed Consent” organ harvesting. monday, 24 January 2011. Retrieved 20 Feb 2011, from http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/6012-colorado-proposes-presumed-consent-organ-harvesting.

  • Shafer, T., D. Wagner, J. Chessare, M.W. Schall, V.M. McBride, F.A. Zampiello, et al. 2008. US organ donation breakthrough collaborative increases organ donation. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly Transplantation and Evidence-Based Practice Reports 31(3): 190–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shafer, T.J. 2009. Improving relatives’ consent to organ donation. BMJ 338: b701.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shewmon, D.A. 2009. Brain death: Can it be resuscitated? Issues in Law and Medicine 25(1): 3–14.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Singbartl, K., R. Murugan, A.M. Kaynar, D.W. Crippen, S.A. Tisherman, K. Shutterly, et al. 2011. Intensivist-led management of brain-dead donors is associated with an increase in organ recovery for transplantation. American Journal of Transplantation 11(7): 1517–1521.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, R. 2010. Project to get transplant organs from ER patients raises ethics questions. The Washington Post. Monday, March 15, 2010. Retrieved 20 Feb 2011, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/14/AR2010031402906.html.

  • Streat, S. 2011. ‘Reversible brain death’—Is it true, confounded, or ‘not proven’? Critical Care Medicine 39(6): 1601–1603.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • The Lancet. 2010. Media power—for good and for ill. The Lancet 376(9748): 1196.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Lancet. 2011. Religion, organ transplantation, and the definition of death. The Lancet 377(9762): 271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The President’s Council on Bioethics. 2008. Controversies in the determination of death. A White Paper of the President’s Council on Bioethics. Retrieved 1 Sep 2011, from http://bioethics.georgetown.edu/pcbe/reports/death/.

  • Tonti-Filippini, N. 2011. Religious and secular death: A parting of the ways. Bioethics: [Article first published online: 24 March 2011]. doi:2010.1111/j.1467-8519.2011.01882.x.

  • Verheijde, J.L., and M. Potts. 2010. Commentary on the concept of brain death within the catholic bioethical framework. Christian Bioethics 16(3): 246–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verheijde, J.L., and M.Y. Rady. 2011. Justifying physician-assisted death in organ donation. American Journal of Bioethics 11(8): 52–54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Verheijde, J.L., M.Y. Rady, and J.L. McGregor. 2009. Brain death, states of impaired consciousness, and physician-assisted death for end-of-life organ donation and transplantation. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 12(4): 409–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wall, S.P., B.J. Kaufman, A.J. Gilbert, Y. Yushkov, M. Goldstein, J.E. Rivera, et al. 2011. Derivation of the uncontrolled donation after circulatory determination of death protocol for New York City. American Journal of Transplantation 11(7): 1417–1426.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Webb, A.C., and O.B. Samuels. 2011. Reversible brain death after cardiopulmonary arrest and induced hypothermia. Critical Care Medicine 39(6): 1538–1542.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wijdicks, E.F.M., P.N. Varelas, G.S. Gronseth, and D.M. Greer. 2010. Evidence-based guideline update: Determining brain death in adults: Report of the quality standards subcommittee of the American academy of neurology. Neurology 74(23): 1911–1918.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wikipedia. 2011. Conflict of interest. Retrieved 20 Feb 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_of_interest.

  • Woien, S., M.Y. Rady, J.L. Verheijde, and J. McGregor. 2006. Organ procurement organizations internet enrollment for organ donation: Abandoning informed consent. BMC Medical Ethics 7(12): 14–23 Retrieved from http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6939/7/14.

  • Yoo, J.H., and Y. Tian. 2011. Effects of entertainment (Mis) education: Exposure to entertainment television programs and organ donation intention. Health Communication 26(2): 147–158.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

No funding for the study.

Conflicts of interest

There are no affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a direct financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. The authors have no financial or nonfinancial conflicts to disclose.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Critical Care Medicine, Mayo Clinic Hospital, 5777 East Mayo Boulevard, Phoenix, AZ, 85054, USA

    Mohamed Y. Rady

  2. Center for Biology and Society, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Mohamed Y. Rady & Joseph L. Verheijde

  3. Department of Philosophy, School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Joan L. McGregor

  4. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Joseph L. Verheijde

Authors
  1. Mohamed Y. Rady
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joan L. McGregor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Joseph L. Verheijde
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohamed Y. Rady.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rady, M.Y., McGregor, J.L. & Verheijde, J.L. Mass media campaigns and organ donation: managing conflicting messages and interests. Med Health Care and Philos 15, 229–241 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-011-9359-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-011-9359-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation