Portrayal of organ donation and transplantation on American primetime television

Abstract

Recently, both living and deceased organ donation rates have hit a plateau, despite increases in need for viable organs. One approach to improve donation rate is public education and policy; thus, it is necessary to understand the information the public is receiving regarding organ donation. We hypothesized that primetime medical dramas portray organ donation and transplantation in a negative manner. We compiled data on all primetime medical drama episodes with transplant themes from November 2008 through June 2010 and assessed depictions of organ donors and transplant candidates. Positive and negative thematic elements surrounding the process and individuals involved were also identified. One hundred and fifty-five million and 145 million households watched episodes containing any negative message and any positive message, respectively. Episodes containing only negative messages had over twice the household viewership per episode compared to episodes containing only positive messages (8.4 million vs. 4.1 million, p = 0.01). Widespread exposure to these representations may reinforce public misconceptions of transplantation. The transplant community should consider the popularity of medical dramas as an opportunity to impact the perception of organ donation and transplantation for millions of Americans.

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“…8,16,18,19,[23][24][25] In the present study, > 60% medical students indicated that media affected their willingness to donate stem cells (Table 4). To date, media such as television, radio, and newspapers have been the primary sources of information about organ donation and transplantation 14 Media reports may positively affect public attitudes about HSCT and donation in Turkey.…”

“…Various strategies have been undertaken to expand donor pools in many countries, particularly for solid-organ transplantations. [12][13][14][15] Good knowledge of HSCT and stem cell donation in health care professionals can increase the numbers of unrelated donors. 11 Numerous studies that have evaluated knowledge and attitudes among students in Turkey about organ and blood donation.…”

“…Increasing public knowledge and sensitivity about solid-organ transplantation has accelerated donor recruitment in many countries. [12][13][14][15] However, little data are available in developing countries regarding the efficacy of public education to increase the number of stem cell donors. [16][17][18] University students may play an important role in promoting donation for HSCT because greater knowledge about this procedure in the university population may increase awareness in young people about the need.…”

Portrayal of Brain Death in Film and Television

“…Because television is a key source of medical information for the public, the donation community began working with the entertainment industry in 2007 to improve the quality of education about organ donation on medical shows through a project called Donate Life Hollywood. Nonetheless, in a review of 49 episodes of medical dramas from 2008 to 2010 that dealt with organ donation, Harbaugh et al found that negative messages were more prominent than positive messages about donation and transplantation .…”

“…As our findings show, unfortunately the entertainment industry does not routinely go to such lengths when portraying brain death. As such, it is very important for physicians, nurses, and organ procurement representatives to partner with television and film writers and producers to ensure accurate portrayals of brain death and organ donation and thereby improve public education on these topics . This may be challenging, as Hollywood may not be open to such efforts.…”