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How might we increase the number of registered bone marrow donors to help save more lives? Read the challenge brief

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Start with the kids!

Launching an education campaign in schools focusing the kids may be a good way of discussing the bone marrow donation process with transparency, to get the right information to the parents and prevent some barriers to appear.
Although cancer is a tough subject for a kid, is already part of their lives. The idea is to start an education campaign in schools to discuss bone marrow donations. With the campaign, school can be an environment for them to clear their doubts and have an open discussion around both cancer and the donation process.

Children take seriously the stuff they hear in school and they usually take that information home to share with their family. For example, kids learn about recycling in school and they invite their parents to sort their rubbish. They hear that smoking is bad for you and they ask their parents to quit smoking. With an education campaign around bone marrow donation in schools, we could also get the right information to the parents, through their kids.

By demystifying the donation process and communicating the importance of donation, we may even be able to prevent some barriers to appear. As these kids grow up, there will be less misunderstanding around the theme, they won't fell rushed because they'll have already though about it and there will be no reason to fear the process.

Which barrier(s) does your concept address?

  1. Fear
  2. Misunderstanding

Which step(s) of the journey does your concept apply to?

  1. Awareness

1

How easy is this concept to implement?

I could start right now.
This might take a bit of planning and probably some help from several partners.
This is a big undertaking and I'd need a lot of help from friends, organizations and other groups to make it happen.
2

Will this concept successfully reach and encourage under-represented populations (including South Asians) to join the bone marrow registry?

Yes, this concept will resonate with diverse groups of people from all over the world.
No, this concept might not reach under-represented populations very well.
I'm not sure, but I hope so!
3

How well does this concept dispel myths, ease fears, or provide education about bone marrow registration and donation?

Really well -- I already feel like I have a better understanding of the process and why it's important.
Okay, though it'll still take some explaining to get people to understand how bone marrow registration and donation work.
Not very well -- we'd have to create a highly detailed plan around this concept to help people understand.
4

How scalable is this concept?

This concept is highly scalable and could easily impact people all over the world.
This concept is really best suited for small groups and local areas.
This concept could be scaled, but we'd have to refine it for different settings.
1

How easy is this concept to implement?

2

Will this concept successfully reach and encourage under-represented populations (including South Asians) to join the bone marrow registry?

3

How well does this concept dispel myths, ease fears, or provide education about bone marrow registration and donation?

4

How scalable is this concept?

5

Tell us any additional comments you might have about this concept.

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Kate Robertson

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April 14, 2011, 03:39PM
Starting with children is always a good idea as they are curious, eager to learn and can be influential catalysts for change. However, I believe the kids represented in the photo are too young to wrap their heads around a complex concept such as bone marrow. Sure, the content could be taught on a very basic level but this might prevent the children from understanding the true value of marrow transplants. Also, it may instill a certain amount of fear in them (I know when I was little, I'd hear about diseases and be sure I had them or that I'd get them soon)...

I'd recommend starting at an 8th grade level or higher and embedding the conversation into a science curriculum. It would be great to solicit insights and/or anecdotes from students whose families have been personally touched by cancer. This provides a human element and a basis for greater motivation to act.

Classrooms could definitely partner with sick kids or adults (those requiring bone marrow transplants) and with today's technology, there could be constant communication between students and patients via live video streaming, emails and photos. This pen-pal relationship would be mutually beneficial as it would provide added support and an outlet for patients (some who might not have a built in support network) and an educational opportunity for students.
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Anne-Laure Fayard

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March 22, 2011, 02:42AM
What I like in the idea is that it is a way to reach both children and parents.
I've seen this in a project we did on climate change with first graders in my kids' school: the kids taught their parents and make them aware, and they also forced them to change their behaviors. So we might not know if these children will remember to donate when they are 18, but their parents might donate.
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Nancy Phan

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March 22, 2011, 01:33AM
Hi Fernanda. Interesting idea. Starting children early learning about how they can help others whether it be donating blood, organs, or marrow I think is a great way to build awareness and start the conversation. Do you think there's a way we could continue to instill these values as these children grow older? As children we all had the "DARE" program in elementary school and learned to not take drugs, but as we all grew into adults, I we really remembered was that drugs were bad, but not the details. I wonder if when these kids are legal age, if they'll remember to sign up.
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Ashley Jablow

Ashley's profile photo delete comment
March 21, 2011, 02:32AM
Really nice concept Fernanda, and great builds Karen and Justin! I especially like the idea of kids writing letters about donation to themselves to open at 18, or to other neighborhood teenagers who are old enough to donate. Kids teaching kids!
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Justin Kim

Justin's profile photo delete comment
March 20, 2011, 01:22PM
What a lovely idea, Fernanda, After all, education is everything, and I am thinking some form of toys could be introduced to make learning more playable for kids. Please view the link below as a reference

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1120666/Gutted-Company-recalls-cuddly-uterus-toy-OVARIES-attached-choking-hazard.html

 
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Karen T. Lin

Karen T.'s profile photo delete comment
March 20, 2011, 12:38AM
I like your idea of addressing the fears/misunderstanding about donation at a young age. It'd also be helpful to add an activity for the kids to "pledge" to register when they are old enough as a reminder. Perhaps they could write themselves a letter (or email) that gets sent on their birthday as a reminder to get registered when they turn 18 (or whatever the age requirement is for that country). Or -- since kids writing letters is just so cute -- have them make birthday card reminders to the teenagers turning 18 in their neighborhood each year :)
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