Are you confident that you will age happily? The advancements in technology from agricultural to biomedical sciences have increased the average lifespan of the world's population dramatically. And Thailand is no exception.
The UN reports that the global share of older people (aged 60 years or over) increased from 9.2% in 1990 to 11.7% in 2013. This means that we will see more than double the number of older people in society: a real demographic shift.
Should we be afraid of ageing? One particular area of concern for an ageing society is the need for organ donors. The fact that the demand for organ transplants far exceeds the supply might make you think twice. The dire scarcity of organ supplies in Thailand continues to worsen, especially when Thais live longer. The Thai Red Cross reports that only 333 out of 3,516 organ waiting list patients received transplants in 2012. The challenge is the increasing need of organ transplants while the number of donors remains mostly constant.
The current organ procurement in Thailand relies purely on altruism, but altruism alone is not enough to meet the demand. This is true not only in Thailand, but also in other countries. Many studies suggest various mechanisms to entice people to become registered donors, ranging from monetary benefits to an improved donor-recipient matching system. Particularly, Johnson et al. (2005) and Thaler (2009) favour the presumed consent law approach. They propose that governments should adopt the "opt out" system, where citizens are assumed donors unless they explicitly refuse to be one. Still, the scarcity problem continues to loom across countries. In the US, an average of 18 people die each day from the lack of available organs for transplant.
In searching for alternative solutions for the scarcity of organ supplies, we have investigated how environmental factors influence people's organ donation decisions. In particular, the notion of the "neighbour effect" -- a phenomenon whereby a consumer is more likely to adopt a product or service if it is widely spread in the market (Axsen et al., 2009) -- is used to explain the decision.
Our study finds that Thais residing in urban areas where neighbours are relatively better educated in comparison with their rural counterparts are more likely to be donors. This suggests that there is a positive influence exerted among residents in neighbourhoods. The psychological satisfaction occurs when the donation will go to someone who shares a common trait or lives in the same area.
So beyond altruism, urban planning could help generate positive attitudes towards organ donation and should be managed with care. As we move towards an ageing society, Thailand needs to foster a better education system about organ donation within our urban planning policy. Are we ready?
On Sept 4, the Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration and the Thailand Research Fund (TRF), in partnership with the Bangkok Post, will host a conference entitled "Riding the Waves of an Ageing Society: Business Opportunities and Challenges". The conference will be held at Sasin from 12.30pm to 5pm, is free of charge and will be conducted in Thai. For more information, see http://www.sasin.edu/trf1
Prof Kua Wongboonsin, PhD, is deputy director for administrative affairs at Chulalongkorn University's Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration and an award-winning demographics researcher. Dr Pavitra Jindahra is an assistant professor of marketing at Sasin. Dr Surat Teerakapibal is a lecturer in marketing at Thammasat Business School.