Evaluation of a Public Information Campaign on Organ Donation

In June 2013, the PHA surveyed the Northern Ireland public about their attitudes towards organ donation. At the same time, a process of stakeholder engagement took place with organ donation charities, those on the transplant waiting list, recipients, donor families, and Health and Social Care staff, to inform the direction of a public information campaign that would encourage organ donation in Northern Ireland.

The main campaign objective was to raise awareness about organ donation and to encourage people to talk about their donation wishes with their family and close friends.  The campaign used two concepts, one from the perspective of the donor family and the other showing the perspective of a recipient family. The media campaign ran from February to October 2014 and included TV/cinema, radio, digital and poster advertising. 

An independent market research company, Social Market Research (SMR) conducted a representative survey of over 1000 people in Northern Ireland to assess awareness of the campaign and clarity of its key messages. The survey also examined the public’s intended behaviour towards organ donation and explored attitudes towards a potential change to a system of presumed consent system.

The report produced by SMR, outlines the findings of the public survey conducted after the public information campaign period.