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What would encourage blood donation in Ireland?
M Harrington1, M R Sweeney, K Bailie
1UCD School of Public Health and Population Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Insights
Blood donation services face donor loss. Increasing mobile clinics, flexible hours, and community knowledge can encourage lapsed and new donors to give blood regularly.
Area of Science:
- Transfusion Medicine
- Public Health
Background:
- Donor panel attrition in Ireland necessitates understanding barriers to blood donation.
- Recent changes led to a 4% loss in the Republic of Ireland and 3% in Northern Ireland.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore barriers preventing individuals from donating blood, focusing on non-donors and lapsed donors.
- To identify strategies for increasing blood donor numbers in Ireland.
Main Methods:
- A 7-month, all-Ireland study utilizing computer-assisted telephone interviews.
- Collected data on sociodemographics, donation status, and barriers/deterrents to donation.
Main Results:
- 4166 questionnaires completed; 56% non-donors, 44% donors.
- Lapsed/non-donors cited need for more mobile clinics (53%), direct requests (53%), and flexible hours (44%).
- Key reasons for non-donation: medical issues (41-43%), lack of information (20-22%), needle phobia (15-17%), and time constraints (12-13%).
Conclusions:
- Addressing donor attrition requires understanding and mitigating barriers.
- Implementing more mobile clinics, flexible hours, and enhancing community knowledge can boost donor recruitment and retention.
Background:
Recent changes have resulted in the loss of 4% of the donor panel in the Republic of Ireland and 3% in Northern Ireland. In order to increase the number of donors in these two regions, it is important that transfusion service providers explore and understand the reasons, which prevent individuals from donating. The aim of this study was to explore these issues particularly in non-donors and those who had lapsed.
Methods:
This 7-month all-Ireland study was conducted by computer-assisted telephone interview. Data collected included sociodemographic history, donation status, as well as barriers/deterrents to donation.
Results:
There were 4166 completed questionnaires (44% donors; 56% non-donors). Of the donors, 13% had donated blood within the last 2 years. Current donors cited 'awareness of patients needs' (88%), 'trust in the blood transfusion service' (70%), and 'an advertising campaign' (70%) as reasons encouraging them to donate blood. Lapsed donors and non-donors cited 'more frequent mobile clinics/sessions' (30% lapsed donors; 53% non-donors), 'if I was asked' (28% lapsed donors; 53% non-donors), and 'more flexible opening hours' (23% lapsed donors; 44% non-donors) as reasons that would encourage them to donate. The main reasons cited by non-donors for never having donated included 'medical reasons' (41% Republic of Ireland; 43% Northern Ireland), 'lack of information' (20% Republic of Ireland; 22% Northern Ireland), 'fear of needles' (15% Republic of Ireland; 17% Northern Ireland), and 'time constraints' (12% Republic of Ireland; 13% Northern Ireland). Among the non-donor group, 10% (Republic of Ireland) and 6% (Northern Ireland) claimed that they are not permitted to donate.
Conclusion:
Replacing regular donors is a major challenge for the transfusion service providers. This study shows that by facilitating the general public by introducing more mobile clinics/sessions, more flexible opening hours and having a better level of knowledge in the community about blood donation may encourage lapsed donors and new donors to become regular donors.
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