International Living Donation Storytelling Project
Share your story
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Record your story at livingdonationstories.org
Need help?
Tips and tricks to help you tell your story
- Filming tips
- For more information or support in telling your story, contact the living donation team at Canadian Blood Services: kpd@blood.ca.
Learn from lived experience
Canadian storytellers’ videos will become part of the international storytelling library and be an essential support for potential living donors here in Canada as part of Canadian Blood Services’ developing educational resource platform. Listen to our first Canadian storytellers. Hear what they have to say about their experience as living kidney donors or recipients.
Background: Living Donation Storytelling Project
Canadian Blood Services partnered with Dr. Amy Waterman and her team to provide Canadians the opportunity to participate in The Living Donation Storytelling Project
Dr. Waterman and her team began collecting stories from living kidney donors, living kidney donor transplant recipients, family and friends of recipients, and people in need of a living kidney donor in the summer of 2018, using an innovative storyteller capturing platform.
The digital library technology empowers participants to record their story anywhere, anytime, on any smartphone, tablet, or laptop. Participants receive an email invitation with a link to record a video story. Open-ended prompts guide Storytellers to topics of discussion and ensures the educational value of their narrative. Upon conclusion, the video segments automatically stitch together into one seamless story.
The digital storytelling platform has already collected hundreds of stories from living donors, recipients, allies, including those exploring the idea of donation, and some looking for a living donor. Storytellers come from diverse backgrounds, geographic regions, age, and life experience. By sharing their candid personal stories, they each help to raise awareness about the need for living donors to help improve the outlook for those waiting for transplant.
Canadian Blood Services' role in Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation
Canadian Blood Services works with the Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation (OTDT) community to improve national system performance. We do this through the development of leading practices, professional education, public awareness and data analysis and reporting. We also manage clinical programs that support interprovincial sharing of organs.