Projects

Focus groups on general practitioner information about organ donation

In January 2020, the German Bundestag (Parliament) passed a number of reforms to the legislation on organ donation. The so-called decision solution that has existed to date remains unchanged. However, in the future, the discussion and education about organ and tissue donation will be promoted and the personal decision will be better documented. As part of the Act to Encourage the Willingness to Donate Organs, an online registry is to be set up and general practitioners will be given the opportunity to provide their patients with open and unbiased advice on organ and tissue donation every two years.

In light of these changes, the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) aimed to update the existing information material for general practitioners and to include the needs of general practitioners in the revision process in order to ensure maximum acceptance within the target group.

The aim of the evaluation was to have the contents of the brochure “Information on Organ and Tissue Donation. A Guideline for General Practitioners” reviewed by the target group. The intention was to analyze the support needs of general practitioners on the subject of organ and tissue donation and to determine which form of presentation the target group would prefer. The evaluation was commissioned by the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA).

Both qualitative and quantitative survey methods were used in a mixed methods approach. This included assessing the target group’s views on the potential for optimizing the presentation of the brochure and its content. In addition, potential needs for support and the practicability of various forms of presentation were surveyed.

Photo: freepik | tirachardz