Taiwan Organ Sharing Registry & Patient Autonomy Promotion Center, a registered foundation, is the sole official organization in Taiwan responsible for organ donation. One of its primary tasks is fostering relationships between hospitals, donors, and donor’s families. In the current process, organ donation requires final approval from family members, often leading to significant psychological trauma. Consequently, the center has been implementing the 'Organ Donor's Family Care Program' for many years. This program includes regular gatherings, music events, hosting support groups, and providing psychological counseling. These initiatives aim to help donor’s families overcome the grief of losing a loved one and ease the pain associated with the decision to consent to organ donation.

Paper Organs is an innovative product designed to allow donors to adhere to the cultural practice of "body must remain intact". Collaborating with Taiwanese artist Chen Wen-tai, traditional paper art techniques are employed to craft organs such as heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, corneas, and more. This enables the donor's family to conduct a burning ritual for Paper Organs after the donor's passing. Following the funeral custom of "Joss Paper Burning", these paper-made organs are sent to the donor in the afterlife.

Paper Organs become a cultural symbol for breaking taboo in organ donation. The design aims to provide reassurance to organ donors, comfort to their families, and shift the public's attitude, eliminating the fear associated with organ donation. Beyond functionality, we prioritize user experience, incorporating "emotional design" in the design process. By aligning with local culture and public perception, the product ensures readability and accessibility for users.

We use cultural customs to eliminate the pain caused by cultural customs. Utilizing the tradition of ‘Joss Paper Burning’, we create Paper Organs to break ‘body must remain intact’ taboo. This genuinely soothes the grieving feelings of the donor's family, aiding many relatives who find themselves in profound pain to break free from such thought patterns.

After the launch of 'Paper Organs,' it successfully enlisted the participation of 11 organ donation-executing hospitals to join the Paper Organs program. Commencing mass production in 2023, Paper Organs became a gratitude gift presented by Taiwan Organ Sharing Registry & Patient Autonomy Promotion Center to donor’s families. Families of organ donors from these 11 hospitals, regardless of the past or future, can apply for Paper Organs. In collaboration with Taiwan's largest hospital, National Taiwan University Hospital, we organize Paper Organs Art Exhibition. The exhibition featured the five most representative donated organs: heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and corneas. Spanning a month and a half, the exhibition invited families of organ donors and successfully garnered attention from the medical community and the public.

Paper Organs breaks the taboo in organ donation, reversing negative perceptions in Taiwanese society and enabling more confident public participation in signing organ donation consent forms.

• The annual organ donation consent signing rate increased by 28%, the highest in the past five years, with over 3,400 forms collected during the exhibition.

• Collaboration with 11 organ donation-executing hospitals was established as part of the organ donation promotion program.

• Since the release of Paper Organs until December 15, 2023, 332 sets of paper organs were distributed within six months, including 42 hearts, 15 lungs, 113 kidneys, 69 livers, and 93 corneas. (Annual average for organ donations in Taiwan over the past five years: 859)

• Following Paper Organs' release, positive discussions about "organ donation" on social media increased by 411%, overturning the negative perception in Taiwanese society. (Source: OPView, 2023/01-2023/12, Taiwan)