Teenagers and young people who have organ transplants are at substantial risk of transplant failure due to the pressures of adolescence and increasing independence which can lead to non-adherence with medication and transplant rejection. Sadly a third of teenage kidney transplant patients lose their transplants within 3 years of moving to adult care and return to dialysis. Alarmingly about 10% of heart transplant patients die from organ rejection in their late teens in the UK. Through a Curiosity grant from Children in Need and The Welcome Trust we undertook a pilot project to explore new ways of improving children and teens knowledge of how their body reacts to the transplant and why it is so important to take regular immunosuppressive medication to prevent damage and potential transplant failure. We used an innovative science busking technique and piloted the tool kit at the BTG in Birmingham. This video summarise the reality of how young people lose their transplants prematurely and how our TS interactive busk can help improve patient education in a fun, youth friendly way and reduce the risk of transplant loss.
