Nursing students discuss all things 'organ donation' at Mela

Last month, a group of nursing students, along with Ricky Hellyar - Lecturer in Nursing from the School of Healthcare Sciences, attended the Mela event at Cardiff Bay.

Mela celebrates the diversity of cultures within Cardiff and South Wales with its main roots in South Asian culture.

The aim of the day for the Healthcare Sciences team was to engage with a variety of people from different backgrounds. Working with Believe Organ Donation Support and NHS Blood and Transplant, the team listened to the views of attendees and talked to them about organ donation.

It is understood that attitudes towards organ donation are becoming more positive however, there still is an urgent shortage of donors from Black, Asian, Minority, Ethnic (BAME) communities.

Research suggests that some concerns about organ donation exist owing to spiritual, cultural and religious beliefs. The event gave the students the opportunity to engage with individuals from BAME communities and to hear first-hand their thoughts about the subject.

One of the student volunteers, third year student Georgia, said:

“At Mela we were given the opportunity to speak to a range of people from different cultures. We were able to listen to their perspectives about organ donation and find out what organ donation meant to them.

Some people were still unaware of the changes in Wales and we were able to provide individuals and families with information which can help them make decisions”.

The day was extremely valuable and was demonstrative of the students’ outstanding commitment to understanding diverse healthcare perspectives.