Engaging Northern Ireland secondary school students on organ donation and kidney transplantation awareness

Purpose: To assist in efforts to tackle the rising public health crisis of chronic kidney disease, we designed and delivered a research engagement workshop, Transplantation Tales, with secondary school students and teachers in Northern Ireland on the topic of organ donation and kidney disease. The event was a collaborative effort with community stakeholders, including six local secondary schools, two local hospitals and the regional public health agency. A new engagement strategy was piloted with young people which involved storyboarding developed with animation experts. Methods: Approximately 130 students participated and designed their own educational kidney health storyboard. A pretest-posttest design was employed to evaluate changes in students’ knowledge, attitudes and perceptions regarding kidney disease and transplantation using an online survey. Results: Forty-three students completed both surveys, with statistically significant improvements ( p < .001) observed across all measured domains. The workshop was evaluated as inspiring and educational by the students. Students particularly enjoyed the storyboarding activity, with key learning outcomes including a greater understanding of CKD and kidney transplantation, as well as positively impacting mindsets regarding lifestyle choices. Similarly, teachers reported that they enjoyed the event, specifically appreciating the attendance of healthcare professionals to provide insight into different careers involved in renal care. Conclusion: Overall, the workshop resulted in a high-quality educational experience for students, leading to improvements in students’ knowledge, attitude and perceptions regarding kidney disease and transplantation. The findings from the evaluation support a new storyboarding engagement method with young people, helping to increase public health awareness of kidney disease and organ donation.