Deceased Organ Donation and Health Literacy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Deceased Organ Donation and Health Literacy
IRAS ID
186023
Contact name
Vassilios Papalois
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Joint Research Compliance Office
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 31 days
Research summary
Transplantation saves lives and improves quality of life for patients and their families. Latest figures released from NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT)in January 2016 indicate that more people wait longer and around 1,000 people die each year in need of a transplant across the UK due to shortage of organs and family refusals to authorise organ donation of their kin after death (Deceased Organ Donation/DOD);specifically, more than 500 families in the UK since 1 April 2010 have said no to organ donation.
This research project examines health literacy learning resources and patterns of family network communication(who speaks to whom)in relation to DOD at three European transplant centres : Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital in London UK, University of Cantabria in Santander, Spain and Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. According to WHO “health literacy refers to a person’s capacity to obtain health information, process it and act upon it.'
Participants of the study are people closely linked to the healthcare services: medical students, Kidney Patients’ Association members, and hospital administrative personnel. Participants will be asked to complete a questionnaire, and those who already filled in the questionnaire will be able to participate in focus groups, which will give them an opportunity to exchange views and explain in greater depth their opinions, feelings and proposals relevant to health literacy DOD.REC name
London - Hampstead Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0664
Date of REC Opinion
25 Apr 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion