EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University researchers are studying ways in which social media – in particular Facebook – can increase the numbers of people who register as organ and tissue donors.
Funded through a $340,000 grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s Division of Transplantation, the project will focus on getting more college-age people to register.
“There is a great need in the state of Michigan to increase the number of citizens who enroll on the state organ donor registry,” said Sandi Smith, director of MSU’s Health and Risk Communication Center and director of the project. “We’re hopeful that we can help increase the number of young adults registering on the Web by as much as 15 percent.”
In the first year of the two-year project, ads will be placed on Facebook that will feature the logos of colleges, including MSU. This, Smith said, “will highlight the social identity of the campus affiliation via a competition with other schools.”
Specifically, the ads will provide links to two already successful college registry programs – the Gift of Life Campus Challenge and the Wolverine vs. Buckeye Challenge for Life.
The second year of the project will focus more on educational efforts and spreading the message to peer groups.
“In year two the project will add Facebook applications that students can use to educate and persuade their friends and family members to join the Web-based donor registry,” Smith said, “thus utilizing the power of social network influence.”
According to Donate Life America, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase education about organ and tissue donation, more than 100,000 Americans currently need life-saving organ transplants. The organization said an average of 18 people die each day from the lack of available organs for transplant.
To sign up on the Michigan Organ Donor Registry, visit www.giftoflifemichigan.org, click “Become a Donor” and select Michigan State University from the drop-down menu.
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