Barriers and motivations for blood donation: an integrative review

It has been estimated that the proportion of blood donors in Brazil is below 2.0 %, lower than that recommended by the World Health Organization, which is between 3 % and 5 % of the population.

The aim of this study was to analyze the factors that can influence blood donation.

This is an integrative review, whose bibliographic search was carried out through the Virtual Health Library, considering scientific articles indexed in the Latin American and Caribbean Literature in the Health Sciences database.

This process was performed in July 2022 with term "blood donors" and 901 publications were identified, without delimitation of the study period or any other aspects. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 40 articles were fully reviewed. The studies were categorized according to the main content discussed in "characteristics and perspectives of donors", "perspective of health professionals and services" and "loyalty strategies: marketing and communication in health". Access to coherent information about the donation process was the motivational aspect evidenced in the three categories of analysis, that is, indispensable from the perspective of users, health professionals who work in blood therapy services and for marketing and communication in health. It is through the knowledge of the procedure that uncertainties and fear are decreased and loyal donors are increased.

Altruism was the most frequent driving feeling in the consulted literature, whereas the lack of time and fear were the routine obstacles. The campaigns were identified as communication and health education actions relevant to attracting and retaining the donor, as well as applications and social networks.