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New York Hospital Conveys The Beauty Of Organ Donation In Personal, AI Campaign
By Alexa Heah, 28 Jun 2021
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Video screenshot via Montefiore Health System
New York-based hospital and healthcare provider Montefiore Health System, together with advertising agency Alto, have launched a new platform for patients needing organ donations to appeal to the public.
The Live and Let Live digital platform aims to help patients appeal for donations with their personal stories, giving a more human touch to how organ donations can change lives.
Through several prompts, patients submit audio and images about their lives, with the platform then turning them into heartfelt films. The company even consulted Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ludovico Einaudi on the look and sound of the films.
Loreen Babcock, Montefiore Chief Marketing Officer told Fast Company that the platform was designed to shed public misconceptions about the patients’ stories and why they wanted to live.
“We want to take that assumption out, and create that story about what’s important to them and why they want to be here. That’s how you create a real human connection,” she explained.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, there are nearly 100,000 patients in the US on the kidney donation waiting list. While a patient waits for an average of three to seven years for a kidney transplant, about 12 people die waiting every day, making this campaign endeavor even more poignant.
In addition to submitting photographs representing who they are and what they live for, patients are also encouraged to feature pictures that show what they wish to do in the future. The artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the platform then makes more suggestions on stock photos the patient can add to his or her film.
Dr Milan Kinkhabwala, Montefiore’s Chief of Transplantation and Director of Abdominal Transplantation, said the platform allows patients to broach the uncomfortable topic of organ donation with others.
“Many times these patients don’t know how to talk to potential donors, or initiate that conversation. They have anxiety about it. This is meant to break down those feelings that prevent them from being proactive in getting a donor.”
Currently, Live and Let Live is moving out of beta testing, with a campaign to raise awareness around the need for organ donors and to spread the stories of Montefiore’s 1,500 patients on the waitlist.
Eventually, the hospital hopes its campaign can create videos in a matter of minutes for any patient, helping them to raise awareness of both the need and opportunity for living organ donation.
Take a look at some of the touching videos below, featuring some of Montefiore’s patients.
[via Fast Company, cover image via Montefiore Health System]
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