“As American Indians, We Value Helping One Another.”
We are proud of the traditions that guide our
spirit of community and unity.
The Talk Donation campaign gives a voice to the diverse community of American Indians from Minnesota dedicated to expanding awareness and participation in organ and tissue donation. We envision a healthy, prosperous world in which our native communities are committed to caring and giving the gift of life to others.
Together, our individual actions and stories can make an exponential impact.
Collaborating with the Community
The Talk Donation American Indian campaign is about connecting with communities to inform, educate, and empower people to make their own choice to become an organ, eye, and tissue donor. Our approach to communication is built on a foundation of collaboration. By working directly with community members, we are better able to understand their personal and cultural context. Through research, focus groups, in-depth interviews, and human interaction this campaign was designed to inspire American Indian communities to use their own voice and share their stories with one another. The campaign features members of the community and is rooted in the strong spiritual traditions of American Indian culture.
Talk Donation is about education, awareness, gathering information and sparking conversations. That’s why we prefer to talk with people rather than talk at them. We know that the choice to become a donor is a personal one and it’s yours to make.
How We Did It
Focus Group Findings
To develop this campaign, LifeSource and Hennepin County Medical Center facilitated six focus group sessions with a total of 41 Native American participants living in the Twin Cities.
During these sessions participants were asked to share opinions on deceased organ donation, questions about donation, and knowledge and perceptions of organ donation. We are grateful for the opportunity to have these conversations because they help us serve the community better, and ultimately save more lives.
Here are the questions from the focus group participants. We’ve share the answers with them and are providing them here to share with all of you.
Behind the Scenes
Our Partners
LifeSource is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation in the Upper Midwest.
It’s our privilege to serve the 7 million people who live in communities across our service area. This project to connect with, inspire and educate the Twin Cities Native American community about donation was accomplished through partnerships with other health organizations and legislative funding through the Minnesota Department of Health.
Thank you to our partners:
Minnesota Department of Health, whose mission is protecting, maintaining and improving the health of all Minnesotans.
Hennepin County Medical Center, whose mission is to partner with their community, their patients and their families to ensure access to outstanding care for everyone, while improving health and wellness through teaching, patient and community education, and research.
The Minnesota transplant centers with whom we proudly work each day to save lives.
