Life Is Cool Project

It is well documented that the need for donated organs far outweighs the supply. The Donate Life Kentucky Coalition and community volunteers have partnered to educate upper elementary students on the opportunity for organ and tissue donation. The Life Is Cool program educates students about organ function, the importance of nutrition and physical activity to the health of organs, and works to dispel common myths and misconceptions surrounding organ and tissue donation. The program has been implemented in elementary schools in Kentucky for over three years, but has not been formally evaluated. 546 middle school students from 3 schools participated in the evaluation study of the Life Is Cool program. Two schools received different versions of the educational program while the third school served as a non-intervention comparison group. This presentation will present findings based on exposure to the Life Is Cool educational materials. Students responded to items on general knowledge on organ function, knowledge on organ donation, and intentions to become an organ donor in the future. ANOVA identified that the Life Is Cool program significantly improved mean scores on general knowledge (p=.000), and knowledge of organ and tissue donation (p=.000). Chi square analysis identified significant differences in the proportion of students that intended to register as a donor in the future (p=.000). Research has shown that increasing knowledge of organ donation may increase intention to register as an organ donor in the future.