Analysis of content and online public responses to media articles that raise awareness of the opt-out system of consent to organ donation in England.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Preceded by a national media campaign, in May 2020, England switched to a soft opt-out system of organ donation which rests on the assumption that individuals meeting specific criteria have consented to organ donation unless they have expressed otherwise. We aimed to learn more about how the changes were communicated, how people responded and any discrepancies between key messages and how they were interpreted by the public.

Methods

Summative content analysis of 286 stories and related reader-generated comments in leading UK online news sources (April 2019 to May 2021). Further detailed thematic analysis of 21 articles with reader-generated content, complemented by thematic content analysis coding of all 286 stories.

Results

Most media coverage on both orga

SUBMITTER: Faherty G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9751921 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature