We invite you to share your voice through a short survey focused on the barriers to donation, whether due to mistrust, misinformation, or lack of access.
There are currently 419 Black, non-Hispanic patients on the organ transplant waitlist at St. Louis-area transplant centers, according to Mid-America Transplant.
Unfortunately, the number of organ donations from African Americans in the St. Louis region has remained alarmingly low over the past five years, with a peak in 2022. In particular, tissue donations (transplants from deceased donors) have declined during this period.
Word In Black, a digital news collaborative of ten Black-owned news publications, including The St. Louis American, is conducting a national survey to understand why so many African Americans are hesitant to donate organs and tissues or register to donate them after death, even though doing so can save lives.
We’ve invited you to share your voice through a short survey
Your responses will help:
- Elevate awareness and improve the design of organ-donation campaigns
- Inform policy changes that increase access and build trust
- Spark vital community conversations that could ultimately save lives
As a thank you, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win one of 20 prizes when you complete the survey.
Your voice matters. Please take a few minutes to participate in this important research.
Take the survey today: https://wordinblack.com/st-louis-organ-donation-and-transplantation-research/
This is such an important initiative. It’s heartbreaking to see the disparity in donation rates within our community, and understanding the barriers through this survey is a crucial first step. I recently read an article that discussed how transplant waitlists are being affected by a decrease in donor allocation, which seems like a related challenge. It mentioned that patients are having to become their own best advocates and stay incredibly proactive about their health, including managing conditions like diabetes that can impact eligibility. It made me wonder, for those on the waitlist or considering donation, how much does the current scarcity of organs and the complexity of the system contribute to the hesitancy? Here’s the piece I was looking at, it provided some really sobering context: https://uktransplant.org/uk-transplant-waitlists-decreased-donor-allocation. Do you think better public awareness of these allocation challenges could also help motivate more people to register as donors?