Defining and measuring blood donor altruism: a theoretical approach from biology, economics and psychology

Rational or altruistic: the impact of social media information exposure on Chinese youth's willingness to donate blood

Background

Non-remunerated blood donation is the main approach for various medical institutions to get the source of blood supply, but the blood supply shortage is still a problem in today's society. Social media has become the main approach of information acquisition for youth groups nowadays, and the information on social media will have an impact on people's behavioral decisions. The objective of this study was therefore to investigate the correlation between social media exposure to relevant information about blood donation and the willingness of youths to donate blood.

Methods

We collected data from 455 questionnaires through an online questionnaire and structural equation modeling was constructed for validation. Data were analyzed for reliability, validity, and demographic differences using IBM-SPSS 26.0, and IBM-SPSS-AMOS 26.0 was used for model fit analysis and path analysis.

Results

The results of the study showed that there was a positive correlation between social media exposure to relevant blood donation information and willingness to donate blood (β = 0.262, p < 0.001), altruism (β = 0.203, p < 0.001) and self-efficacy (β = 0.170, p < 0.001). While there was also a positive correlation between attitude toward blood donation and self-efficacy (β = 0.560, p < 0.001), there was no positive correlation between it and willingness to donate blood (β = -0.180, p = 0.786). There was also a positive correlation between altruism and willingness to donate blood (β = 0.150, p < 0.05) and attitude toward blood donation (β = 0.150, p < 0.001). Similarly, there was a positive correlation between self-efficacy and willingness to donate blood (β = 0.371, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Exposure to more information related to blood donation on social media can increase the willingness of the youth population to donate blood, while exposure to information related to altruism and self-efficacy on social media can also enhance young people's attitudes toward blood donation, while further strengthening their willingness to donate.

The importance of need-altruism and kin-altruism to blood donor behaviour for black and white people

BACKGROUND

Need-altruism (a preference to help people in need) and kin-altruism (a preference to help kin over non-kin) underlie two hypotheses for voluntary blood donation: (i) Need-altruism underlies motivations for volunteer blood donation and (ii) Black people express a stronger preference for kin-altruism, which is a potential barrier to donation. This paper tests these hypotheses and explores how need- and kin-altruism are associated with wider altruistic motivations, barriers, and strategies to encourage donation.

METHODS

We assessed need- and kin-altruism, other mechanisms-of-altruism (e.g., reluctant-altruism), barriers, strategies to encourage donation, donor status, and willingness-to-donate across four groups based on ethnicity (Black; White), nationality (British; Nigerian), and country-of-residence: (i) Black-British people (n = 395), and Black-Nigerian people (ii) in the UK (n = 97) or (iii) across the rest of the world (n = 101), and (v) White-British people in the UK (n = 452). We also sampled a Black-Nigerian Expert group (n = 60).

RESULTS

Need-altruism was higher in donors and associated with willingness-to-donate in non-donors. Levels of kin-altruism did not differ between Black and White people, but need-altruism was lower in Black-British people. Kin-altruism was associated with a preference for incentives, and need-altruism with a preference for recognition (e.g., a thank you) as well as an increased willingness-to-donate for Black non-donors. Need-altruism underlies a blood-donor-cooperative-phenotype.

CONCLUSION

Need-altruism is central to blood donation, in particular recruitment. Lower need-altruism may be a specific barrier for Black-British people. Kin-altruism is important for Black non-donors. The blood donor cooperative phenotype deserves further consideration. Implications for blood services are discussed.

Characteristics and Motivational Factors of Whole Blood and Convalescent Plasma Donors during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Israel

Demands for whole blood (WB) and COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) donations during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic presented unprecedented challenges for blood services throughout the world. This study aims to understand the motivating factors that drive WB and CCP donations in the context of the pandemic. This cross-sectional study is based on data extracted from surveys of the two volunteer donor cohorts. The findings reveal that when compared to CCP donors, WB donors were more likely to view donation as a form of social engagement (97.7% vs. 87.1%, p < 0.01), advantageous in the workplace (46.4% vs. 28.6%, p < 0.01), advantageous in their social network (58.6% vs. 47.0%, p = 0.01), and view their donation in the context of positive self-satisfaction (99% vs. 95.1%, p = 0.01). The average age of CCP donors was 7.1 years younger than those who donated WB (p < 0.01). Motivational factors were also analyzed by sex and religiosity. In conclusion, whereas both donor groups showed a high motivation to partake in these life-saving commitments, WB donors were more likely to be motivated by factors that, when better-understood and implemented in policies concerning plasma donations, may help to increase these donations.

Clearing the way for participatory data stewardship in artificial intelligence development: a mixed methods approach

Participatory data stewardship (PDS) empowers individuals to shape and govern their data via responsible collection and use. As artificial intelligence (AI) requires massive amounts of data, research must assess what factors predict consumers' willingness to provide their data to AI. This mixed-methods study applied the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with additional predictors of trust and subjective norms. Participants' data donation profile was also measured to assess the influence of individuals' social duty, understanding of the purpose and guilt. Participants (N = 322) completed an experimental survey. Individuals were willing to provide data to AI via PDS when they believed it was their social duty, understood the purpose and trusted AI. However, the TAM may not be a complete model for assessing user willingness. This study establishes that individuals value the importance of trusting and comprehending the broader societal impact of AI when providing their data to AI.Practitioner summary: To build responsible and representative AI, individuals are needed to participate in data stewardship. The factors driving willingness to participate in such methods were studied via an online survey. Trust, social duty and understanding the purpose significantly predicted willingness to provide data to AI via participatory data stewardship.

Applying a modified and extended theory of planned behavior to predict blood donation intentions among Chinese university students: An empirical investigation

Background

The blood shortage in China has become a nationwide issue, which poses a threat to critical medical treatments and puts patients at risk. To address this problem, blood donation recruitment and retention campaigns have been launched, with university students being recognized as an important target audience. To recruit this particular population effectively, it is crucial to comprehend their motivations for donating blood.

Methods

This study used a modified and extended Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior to explain the determinants of blood donation intention among N = 1165 China's young adults through an online cross-sectional survey, utilizing a snowball sampling technique to recruit participants.

Results

In line with previous TPB-based studies, we found positive associations between attitude (β = 0.071, p < .01), subjective norms (β = 0.264, p < .001), and self-efficacy (β = 0.536, p < .001) with blood donation intention. Attitude and self-efficacy mediated the relationships between anxiety, altruism, and social norm with blood donation intention (β = 0.817, p < .01, 95%CI [0.737, 0.909]; β = 1.31, p < .01, 95%CI [1.203, 1.409]; β = 1.301, p < .01, 95%CI [1.209, 1.403]). Attitude also mediated the relationship between altruism and social norm with blood donation intention (β = .456, p < .01, 95%CI [0.38, 0.53]; β = 0.447, p < .01, 95%CI [0.374, 0.52]).

Conclusion

Our results highlight the significance of utilizing communication strategies, such as promoting altruism and reducing donation anxiety, as well as creating a supportive social environment. These strategies can improve attitudes and intentions toward blood donation, leading to an increase in blood donation rates.

Did you donate? Talking about donations predicts compliance with solicitations for donations

Many forms of prosocial behaviour are highly institutionalized. They are facilitated by organizations that broker between donors and recipients. A highly effective tool that organizations use to elicit prosocial behaviour are solicitations for donations (e.g., of blood, time, or money). Using register and survey data on blood donations in the Netherlands, we examine to what extent compliance with these solicitations is predicted by being recruited via word of mouth (WOM) and talking about donations. Our model predicts that donors that are one unit higher on our measure of talking about donations (range = 1-4) have a 2.9 percentage points higher compliance with solicitations for donations. In addition, this association is stronger for novice donors. Our study demonstrates the social embedding of the donors' decision-making processes about compliance. For practice, our results imply that organizations may increase their contributors' communication about donations to increase the effectiveness of their solicitations.

Donating Health Data to Research: Influential Characteristics of Individuals Engaging in Self-Tracking

Health self-tracking is an ongoing trend as software and hardware evolve, making the collection of personal data not only fun for users but also increasingly interesting for public health research. In a quantitative approach we studied German health self-trackers (N = 919) for differences in their data disclosure behavior by comparing data showing and sharing behavior among peers and their willingness to donate data to research. In addition, we examined user characteristics that may positively influence willingness to make the self-tracked data available to research and propose a framework for structuring research related to self-measurement. Results show that users’ willingness to disclose data as a “donation” more than doubled compared to their “sharing” behavior (willingness to donate = 4.5/10; sharing frequency = 2.09/10). Younger men (up to 34 years), who record their vital signs daily, are less concerned about privacy, regularly donate money, and share their data with third parties because they want to receive feedback, are most likely to donate data to research and are thus a promising target audience for health data donation appeals. The paper adds to qualitative accounts of self-tracking but also engages with discussions around data sharing and privacy.

What would it take to convince you to donate? A survey study of the relationship between motivators, barriers, and payment for whole blood, plasma, and platelet donation

Background

With growing discussion about blood donor remuneration, the present study examined the level of payment that may be required to convince individuals to engage in whole blood, plasma, and platelet donations.

Study Design and Methods

Anonymous online surveys were completed by a college sample [n = 490; 76.9% female; Mean Age = 20.3 (SD = 4.9) years; 32.9% whole blood donors] and a ResearchMatch sample [n = 323; 70.6% female; Mean Age = 50.7 (SD = 16.6) years; 82.7% whole blood donors]. Level of payment needed to motivate whole blood, plasma, and platelet donation was examined as a function of donation history, sample, and gender. In addition, path analyses examined associations between donation motivators, barriers, and payment level.

Results

Across all types of donation, history of whole blood donation was related to a greater willingness to donate without payment. At the same time, however, sizeable portions of prior donors indicated that monetary payment would convince them to donate whole blood (24%), plasma (51%), or platelets (57%). Across all types of donation, donation‐related barriers (i.e., anxiety, fear) were indirectly related to higher payment levels via lower self‐efficacy and more negative donation attitudes. Donation‐related motivators (i.e., warm glow, regret, and altruism) were indirectly related to lower payment levels via higher self‐efficacy and more positive donation attitudes.

Conclusion

Despite reporting a strong commitment to nonremunerated blood donation, many respondents with and without a history of blood donation indicated that money would convince them to engage in whole blood, plasma, and platelet donation.

Does a Low-Cost Act of Support Produce Slacktivism or Commitment? Prosocial and Impression-Management Motives as Moderators

Increase or decrease in subsequent action following a low-cost act of support for a cause can be predicted from both commitment theory and the slacktivism effect. In this paper, we report on three studies that tested type of motivation (prosocial vs. impression management) as a moderator of the effect of an initial act of support [wearing a badge (S1) and writing a slogan (S2 and 3)] has on support for blood donation. Small-scale meta-analysis performed on data from the three studies shows that activating prosocial motivation generally leads to greater support for the cause after an initial act of support compared to the control condition, while the effect from impression-management motivation can either be negative or null.

Effectiveness of Digital Forced-Choice Nudges for Voluntary Data Donation by Health Self-trackers in Germany: Web-Based Experiment

Background

Health self-tracking is an evidence-based approach to optimize health and well-being for personal self-improvement through lifestyle changes. At the same time, user-generated health-related data can be of particular value for (health care) research. As longitudinal data, these data can provide evidence for developing better and new medications, diagnosing rare diseases faster, or treating chronic diseases.

Objective

This quantitative study aims to investigate the impact of digital forced-choice nudges on the willingness of German health self-trackers to donate self-tracked health-related data for research. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on the effectiveness of nonmonetary incentives. Our study enables a gender-specific statement on influencing factors on the voluntary donation of personal health data and, at the same time, on the effectiveness of digital forced-choice nudges within tracking apps.

Methods

We implemented a digital experiment using a web-based questionnaire by graphical manipulation of the Runtastic tracking app interface. We asked 5 groups independently to indicate their willingness to donate tracked data for research. We used a digital forced-choice nudge via a pop-up window, which framed the data donation request with 4 different counter values. We generated the counter values according to the specific target group needs identified from the research literature.

Results

A sample of 919 was generated, of which, 625 (68%) were women and 294 (32%) were men. By dividing the sample into male and female participants, we take into account research on gender differences in privacy tendencies on the web and offline, showing that female participants display higher privacy concerns than male participants. A statistical group comparison shows that with a small effect size (r=0.21), men are significantly more likely (P=.04) to donate their self-tracked data for research if the need to take on social responsibility is addressed (the prosocial counter value in this case—contributing to society) compared with the control group without counter value. Selfish or pseudoprosocial counter values had no significant effect on willingness to donate health data among male or female health self-trackers in Germany when presented as a forced-choice nudge within a tracking app.

Conclusions

Although surveys regularly reveal an 80% to 95% willingness to donate data on average in the population, our results show that only 41% (377/919) of the health self-trackers would donate their self-collected health data to research. Although selfish motives do not significantly influence willingness to donate, linking data donation to added societal value could significantly increase the likelihood of donating among male self-trackers by 15.5%. Thus, addressing the need to contribute to society promotes the willingness to donate data among male health self-trackers. The implementation of forced-choice framing nudges within tracking apps presented in a pop-up window can add to the accessibility of user-generated health-related data for research.

Assessing motivations for non-living and living organ donation among individuals with and without a history of blood donation

OBJECTIVES

The current study investigated relationships between a history of blood donation, registration as a non-living and living organ donor, and differential motivations.

BACKGROUND

Motivational commonalities exist between blood and organ donors, but there is no prior data on the relationships between blood donation history and both living and non-living organ donor registration and motivation.

METHODS/MATERIALS

Participants completed online surveys assessing blood donation history, organ donor registration and interest, and motivations related to donation behaviour.

RESULTS

Blood donation history was not significantly related to registration as either a non-living organ donor (blood donors = 81.4%; non-blood donors = 76.4%) or as a living organ donor (blood donors = 14.0%; non-blood donors = 10.9%). Further, blood donation history was not related to interest in learning more about being an organ donor. Compared to those not registered as an organ donor, those who were registered reported more positive organ donation motivations, but these relationships were unrelated to prior blood donation history.

CONCLUSION

The present findings are consistent with existing research on attitudes, warm glow, and identity as organ donation motivators, and provide novel information regarding the importance of independent assessment of motivations for non-living and living organ donation.

Donor Screening and Deferral

The maintenance of an adequate and safe blood supply begins with choosing the right donor at the right time. The evolution of donor screening has been shaped by experience, donor satisfaction, and the ever-challenging emergence of relevant infectious diseases. Screening donors has been standardized over the past 6 decades to protect donor and recipient safety. In this review, we outline, define, and simplify the requirements to assess and defer donors with a focus on recent and ongoing changes to provide up to date information on donor qualification and current challenges in maintaining the blood supply.

What blood and organ donation can tell us about cooperation?

High-cost cooperation directed towards strangers is difficult to explain from an evolutionary perspective. Here, it is argued that by studying the behaviours, motivations, and preferences of real-world high-cost cooperators - blood and organ donors - insights can be uncovered into the mechanisms supporting cooperation. In this respect, this article details two novel mechanisms to enhance cooperation in the face of free-riding, (1) 'reactive reluctant altruism' whereby people help because they do not trust others to help and (2) the 'Good Shepherd' effect whereby cooperation is enhanced when people observed others cooperate although the social norm is to free-ride. Finally, it is argued that repeated acts of high-cost cooperation are sustained by a self-selection process based on the reinforcing effect of warm-glow.

The influence of sociodemographic and donation behaviour characteristics on blood donation motivations

BACKGROUND

The study of donation motivations is essential at blood transfusion centres, because of the impact of these motivations on an individual's decision to donate. The heterogeneity of donor behaviour and the overall lack of consensus on how to assess it (e.g. via terminology, grouping of items in categories) justify this research, which was conducted with the purpose of an integrated analysis of the influence of sociodemographic and donation behaviour characteristics on the prevalence of donation motivations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twenty-five types of motivation were assessed, through an online self-administered questionnaire, in a sample of 5,353 active donors in the Canary Islands (Spain). A series of tests focused on the differences in means was performed in order to analyse how the donor profile affects donation motivations. As a preliminary step, the validity and reliability of the proposed motivation scale, holistic and integrative in nature, were demonstrated.

RESULTS

Variations in donation motivations do exist. Blood transfusion centres should target their efforts on donors who are over 35 years old, highly educated, with a high income and longer careers as donors, given that these are the least motivated subjects n the donor pool.

DISCUSSION

The fact that the prevalence of donation motivations varies according to the donor profile demonstrates the need to identify the most relevant motivations and, furthermore, which population groups are affected by these motivations. Blood transfusion centres should design differentiated marketing actions in order to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency when using their budgets.

A Multiclass, Multiproduct Covid-19 Convalescent Plasma Donor Equilibrium Model

In this paper, we develop a multiclass, multiproduct equilibrium model for convalescent plasma donations in the Covid-19 pandemic. The potential donors are situated at different locations and the donor population at each location can be separated into different classes based on their motivation and the product for which they provide donations at a collection site. The model captures the competition between nonprofit and for-profit organizations seeking convalescent plasma donations, which is a characteristic of this new market. A variational inequality formulation of the equilibrium conditions and qualitative properties of the model are provided. We also present a capacitated version of the model. Numerical examples of increasing complexity are presented and solved using the modified projection method. The results reveal multiclass, multiproduct donor behavior under different scenarios which can inform policy makers during this pandemic and beyond.

Simple Reciprocal Fairness Message to Enhance Non-Donor's Willingness to Donate Blood

BACKGROUND

Against a background of declining blood donor numbers, recruiting new donors is critical for the effective operations of healthcare providers. Thus, interventions are needed to recruit new blood donors.

PURPOSE

We provide initial evidence for Voluntary Reciprocal Altruism (VRA) to enhance nondonors' willingness to become blood donors. VRA interventions involve asking two questions: one on accepting a blood transfusion if needed and one on willingness to donate. As early trials often use self-reports of willingness to perform blood donation behavior, we derive a correction factor to better estimate actual behavior. Finally, we explore the effect of VRA interventions on two prosocial emotions: gratitude and guilt.

METHODS

Across three experiments (two in the UK and one in Australia: Total N = 1,208 nondonors) we manipulate VRA messages and explore how they affect both reported willingness to make a one-off or repeat blood donation and influence click through to blood donation, organ donation and volunteering registration sites (behavioral proxies). We report data from a longitudinal cohort (N = 809) that enables us to derive a correction for self-reported behavioral willingness.

RESULTS

Across the three experiments, we show that exposure to a question that asks about accepting a transfusion if needed increased willingness to donate blood with some spillover to organ donor registration. We also show that gratitude has an independent effect on donation and report a behavioral correction factor of .10.

CONCLUSIONS

Asking nondonors about accepting a transfusion if needed is likely to be an effective strategy to increase new donor numbers.

Using Digital Platforms to Promote Blood Donation: Motivational and Preliminary Evidence from Latin America and Spain

The lack of blood donors is a global problem that prevents the demand for blood prompted by an ageing population and increased life expectancy from being met. The aim of this study was to conduct an initial exploration of the reasons for using digital platforms in blood donation. Using a Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) framework, microdata for 389 participants from Latin American countries and Spain, and Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), the study obtained three main prediction paths. The first two started from feelings of trust in the digital community and a positive mood state associated with a modern lifestyle, and they were linked to attitudes and behavioural control in the explanation of the intention to donate and actual blood donation. The third path started from modern lifestyles, and was linked to the subjective norm in the prediction of intention and actual donation. These paths represent one of the very first attempts to predict intentions of donation and collaborative donation by taking a PLS-SEM approach. By determining the paths underpinning collaborative blood donors' motives, the results of this study provide strong support for the usefulness of the TPB model within the context of digital platform use and blood donation.

Motivators of and barriers to becoming a COVID-19 convalescent plasma donor: A survey study

OBJECTIVES

To determine the motivators and barriers to COVID-19 convalescent plasma donation by those in the United Kingdom who have been diagnosed with or who have had symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) but who have not donated.

BACKGROUND

Convalescent plasma from people recovered from COVID-19 with sufficient antibody titres is a potential option for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19. However, to date, recruiting and retaining COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors has been challenging. Understanding why those eligible to donate COVID-19 convalescent plasma have not donated is critical to developing recruitment campaigns.

METHODS/MATERIALS

A total of 419 UK residents who indicated that they had been infected with COVID-19 and who lived within 50 km of sites collecting COVID-19 convalescent plasma completed an online survey between 25th June and 5th July 2020. Respondents completed items assessing their awareness of convalescent plasma, motivations and barriers to donation and intention to donate COVID-19 convalescent plasma.

RESULTS

Awareness of COVID-19 convalescent plasma was low. Exploratory factor analysis identified six motivations and seven barriers to donating. A stronger sense of altruism through adversity and moral and civic duty were positively related to intention to donate, whereas generic donation fears was negatively related.

CONCLUSIONS

Once potential donors are aware of convalescent plasma, interventions should focus on the gratitude and reciprocity that those eligible to donate feel, along with a focus on (potentially) helping family and norms of what people ought to do. Fears associated with donation should not be neglected, and strategies that have been successfully used tor recruit whole-blood donors should be adapted and deployed to recruit COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors.

Use of a rapid electronic survey methodology to estimate blood donors' potential exposure to emerging infectious diseases: Application of a statistically representative sampling methodology to assess risk in US blood centers

Risk assessments of transfusion-transmitted emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are complicated by the fact that blood donors' demographics and behaviors can be different from the general population. Therefore, when assessing potential blood donor exposure to EIDs, the use of general population characteristics, such as U.S. travel statistics, may invoke uncertainties that result in inaccurate estimates of blood donor exposure. This may, in turn, lead to the creation of donor deferral policies that do not match actual risk.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

This article reports on the development of a system to rapidly assess EID risks for a nationally representative portion of the U.S. blood donor population. To assess the effectiveness of this system, a test survey was developed and deployed to a statistically representative sample frame of blood donors from five blood collecting organizations. Donors were directed to an online survey to ascertain their recent travel and potential exposure to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

RESULTS

A total of 7128 responses were received from 54 256 invitations. The age-adjusted estimated total number of blood donors potentially exposed to MERS-CoV was approximately 15 640 blood donors compared to a lower U.S. general population-based estimate of 9610 blood donors.

CONCLUSION

The structured donor demographic sample-based data provided an assessment of blood donors' potential exposure to an emerging pathogen that was 63% larger than the U.S. population-based estimate. This illustrates the need for tailored blood donor-based EID risk assessments that provide more specific demographic risk intelligence and can inform appropriate regulatory decision making.

A typology of blood donor motivations

BACKGROUND

Although the need for whole blood is declining, so too are the number of first-time and repeat blood donors. To develop new recruitment and retention strategies, therefore, we need to draw on as wide a variation in blood donor motivations as possible. The primary aim of this study is to draw on a large survey of donors to develop a broad, theoretically instantiated typology of donor motivations to identify new and less common, yet practically important, motivations that have not been previously reported.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

Using data from the UK Blood Donor Survey run by NHS Blood and Transplant/Public Health England Epidemiology Unit (N = 61 123 donors), we analyze fixed (N = 52 225) and free (N = 8867) responses to develop a more comprehensive typology of blood donor motivations based on theories from the biology, psychology, philosophy, economics, and sociology of altruism.

RESULTS

We identified 54 motivations, including a number of newly identified motivations, for blood donations which we organized into 12 superordinate categories (eg, "inspiration via moral elevation," "perceived social closeness," and "fungibility of donations"). These are linked to intervention suggestions such as donating blood in memoriam or donating blood as an alternative to other charitable acts.

CONCLUSION

We present the most comprehensive account of blood donor motivations to-date. This work also offers a structure for coding free-text responses, developing motivational measures, and identifying tangible interventions. Thus, we feel that this is a valuable resource for blood donor researchers, marketers, and policy makers.

Motivation structures of blood donation: a means-end chain approach

Understanding blood donation behaviours is pivotal to recruiting and retaining blood donors. Despite rich literature, this is the first study investigating the content and structure of motivations that underlie blood donation using a means-end chain approach. Based on soft laddering interviews with 227 respondents (31 first-time blood donors and 196 repeat blood donors) in the Klang Valley of Malaysia, we identified that their blood donation was primarily driven by the attribute 'help people', the consequences 'increase blood supply' (as perceived by first-time blood donors) and 'indirect downstream reciprocity' (as perceived by repeat blood donors) associated with the attribute and the belief that the consequences can lead to the fulfilment of the value 'humanitarianism'. Understanding of such hierarchical links between motivators is crucial in developing self-relevant communications. The resultant outcomes are likely to be more effective than the traditional approaches in behavioural change.

Motivation to Donate, Job Crafting, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Blood Collection Volunteers in Non-Profit Organizations

This study assesses the levels of and relationships between the Motivation to donate, Job crafting propensity, and the Organizational citizenship behavior of blood collection volunteers in a non-profit association. An Italian sample of AVIS (the Italian Association of Voluntary Blood donors) blood donors (N = 1215) actively involved in organizing blood collection, were asked to complete the Italian version of the Volunteer Function Index, the Job crafting scale, and the Organizational citizenship behavior scale. The tools were verified by Confirmatory factor analysis and their relationships were explored using Structural equation modeling for hidden variables. The three constructs have overall high scores. Motivation to donate and Job crafting show a clear correlation, with the latter influencing volunteer Organizational citizenship behavior. The study highlights the need to take into consideration the Motivation to donate, Job crafting and Organizational citizenship behavior of volunteers, particularly in countries such as Italy, where blood collection is almost exclusively carried out thanks to spontaneous, altruistic, and disinterested commitment.

Can text messages save lives? A field experiment on blood donor motivation

BACKGROUND

Continuous effort around the globe is exerted into donor management, with the overall aim of keeping a constant flow of new donations. To achieve this goal, blood banks and blood donor associations are taking initiatives to get the same donor to make repeated donations. In general, such initiatives are implemented without proper evaluation. This study circumvents this trend and evaluates the effect on donations from sending blood donors a text message when their donation has helped a patient.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

In a large-scale field experiment (n = 20,365), we randomized donors such that half are sent a text message when their donation was used. Among those who were randomized to the text message, we also randomized the time of day the text message was sent.

RESULTS

The messages increased subsequent donations by 3.6% (p = 0.023), compared with donors who did not get the message. It was also shown that optimizing the time of day when the text messages were sent increased the effect substantially. Text messages sent in the evening increased donations by 6.5% (p = 0.011). Finally, it was found that, among whole blood donors, the text messages did not have a significant effect (p = 0.554), whereas it did among the plasma donors (p = 0.003).

CONCLUSION

Several blood banks have adopted the strategy of sending blood donors a text message that acknowledges that donors' contributions helped a patient. This study is the first to formally test the effects of such a message with a control group.

Knowing the Blood Nondonor to Activate Behaviour

This work is aimed at further developing the study of blood nondonor behaviour through a joint analysis of sociodemographic characteristics, psychological and physical barriers, impure altruism and anticipated emotions, as predictors of intention to donate. To that end, a step-by-step hierarchical regression analysis was applied on a sample of 2383 Spanish nondonors. The study’s results confirm the influence of traditional variables (sociodemographic characteristics, psychological and physical barriers and impure altruism), as well as the power of anticipated emotions, both positive and negative, of donation action and inaction as variables explaining the intention to donate. Another important contribution has been to develop the moderating role of psychological and physical barriers, in addition to impure altruism, on cause–effect relationships between anticipated emotions and intention to donate. A number of practical implications can be derived from this study for transfusion centres responsible for donation promotion.

Psychology of personal data donation

Advances in digital technology have led to large amounts of personal data being recorded and retained by industry, constituting an invaluable asset to private organizations. The implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU, including the UK, fundamentally reshaped how data is handled across every sector. It enables the general public to access data collected about them by organisations, opening up the possibility of this data being used for research that benefits the public themselves; for example, to uncover lifestyle causes of poor health outcomes. A significant barrier for using this commercial data for academic research, however, is the lack of publicly acceptable research frameworks. Data donation—the act of an individual actively consenting to donate their personal data for research—could enable the use of commercial data for the benefit of society. However, it is not clear which motives, if any, would drive people to donate their personal data for this purpose. In this paper we present the results of a large-scale survey (N = 1,300) that studied intentions and reasons to donate personal data. We found that over half of individuals are willing to donate their personal data for research that could benefit the wider general public. We identified three distinct reasons to donate personal data: an opportunity to achieve self-benefit, social duty, and the need to understand the purpose of data donation. We developed a questionnaire to measure those three reasons and provided further evidence on the validity of the scales. Our results demonstrate that these reasons predict people’s intentions to donate personal data over and above generic altruistic motives. We show that a social duty is the strongest predictor of the intention to donate personal data, while understanding the purpose of data donation also positively predicts the intentions to donate personal data. In contrast, self-serving motives show a negative association with intentions to donate personal data. The findings presented here examine people’s reasons for data donation to help inform the ethical use of commercially collected personal data for academic research for public good.

Recruitment strategies: non-donor segmentation based on intrinsic and extrinsic stimuli

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Non-donor behaviour can be influenced by many variables, both intrinsic and extrinsic, which differ among individuals. The aim of this study was therefore to segment Spanish non-donors based on criteria such as barriers and motivations, which influence the decision to donate for the first time, with the aim of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of recruitment actions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 2383 non-donors residing in Spain evaluated 21 barriers and 25 motivations through an online self-administered survey distributed by blood transfusion centres, which are responsible for donations in Spain, and several Spanish universities. After validating these scales and determining the underlying categories in each of them, latent class/profile analysis was performed to segment non-donors.

RESULTS

Spanish non-donors were divided into six clusters. According to their barriers and motivations, the following labels were assigned: (1) 'Impure altruists', (2) 'I want to, but make it easy for me', (3) 'Free-riders', (4) 'Reciprocal altruists', (5) 'I can't because I'm scared' and (6) 'I want to, but I can't'. Specific marketing actions were proposed for each cluster based on their characteristics, prioritizing them depending on their attractiveness.

CONCLUSION

The scales which were designed to evaluate barriers and motivations make a solid contribution to the existing literature due to their holistic, integrative nature. The existence of differentiated clusters and the lack of resources of blood transfusion centres make it clear that there is a need to define and implement targeted marketing strategies.

Pet owners' awareness of animal blood banks and their motivations towards animal blood donation

The general public's awareness of, and attitude to, canine and feline blood donation is poorly understood. Increasing understanding of pet owners' thoughts about donation may allow more effective blood donor recruitment. The aims of this study were to investigate pet owners' awareness of small animal blood donation and their attitude and motivations regarding their pet being a blood donor. A mixed methods approach was used, with data collected from 158 pet owners attending a first-opinion veterinary clinic using a written questionnaire of closed and open questions. Most owners were unaware that dogs and cats could donate blood (70 per cent). However, 89 per cent stated they would be willing to let their pet donate blood if they were suitable. This was more likely if the owner did not work full time and less likely if they were aged over 71 years. Thematic analysis of owners' motivations and deterrents towards pet blood donation resulted in four key themes: 'Beneficence', the desire to help others; 'Necessity of service', a recognition of the requirement for blood products; 'Reciprocity', a hope that if they participated this would result in blood products being available for their pet; and 'Reservations and concerns'.

The health and social impact of Blood Donors Associations: A Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis

Although research on blood donation abounds, no studies have yet attempted to estimate the socio-economic value generated from Blood Donors Associations (BDAs). To fill this gap, the authors ran a Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis on four units of the largest BDA in Italy, the Association of Voluntary Italian Blood Donors ("Avis"). This study used multiple methods for data collection and analysis. A systematic literature review helped the identification of proper financial proxies to highlight the economic value of the social and health impacts experienced by Avis members. A focus group with key informants gathered their views on the areas of impact selected for the analysis: early detection of diseases, adoption of healthier lifestyles, social capital, human capital, personal satisfaction and reinforcement of a 'giving culture'. Primary data collection involved (a) an Activity Based Costing analysis (b) a self-reported questionnaire to 1.066 BDA members and unassociated donors enabling the comparison of the blood donation experience of these two groups. The SROI analysis resulted in four positive ratios, varying between €1.70 and €13.80. This study contributes to the knowledge on impact evaluations in TSOs. Policy implications refer to BDAs deserving financial and material support for their capacity to generate positive social impacts.

Assessment of levels of awareness towards blood donation in Saudi Arabia

Background

blood products is an interesting term as all blood and blood transfusion procedures carry risk even with advance screening of donors and donated blood. In Saudi Arabia voluntary donors are either the only source or not, the other source is paid donors and the lack of volunteers represents a major challenge. This is usually attributed to low community awareness regarding voluntary blood donation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the levels of awareness towards blood donation in northern Saudi Arabia.

Methodology

in this descriptive cross sectional survey, data about blood donation were obtained from 717 Saudi volunteers living in the city of Hail, Saudi Arabia. A Purposeful questionnaire was designed and used for obtaining of the necessary data.

Results

When asking the participants to rate the level of awareness about blood donation in Saudi Society, the majority of participants categorized the levels as good followed by very good and poor, representing 48.8%, 29.3%, and 22% participants, respectively.

Conclusion

the broad concept of blood donation is still poor in Saudi Arabia. Further educational plans are needed to raise the level of awareness and increase the perception of blood donation among Saudi population. Efforts should be made to involve females in blood donation duties.

Individual, contextual and network characteristics of blood donors and non-donors: a systematic review of recent literature

BACKGROUND

The ageing population and recent migration flows may negatively affect the blood supply in the long term, increasing the importance of targeted recruitment and retention strategies to address donors. This review sought to identify individual, network and contextual characteristics related to blood donor status and behaviour, to systematically discuss differences between study results, and to identify possible factors to target in recruitment and retention efforts.

METHODS

The systematic review was conducted in accordance with a predefined PROSPERO protocol (CRD42016039591). After quality assessments by multiple independent raters, a final set of 66 peer-reviewed papers, published between October 2009 and January 2017, were included for review.

RESULTS

Individual and contextual characteristics of blood donor status and behaviour were categorised into five main lines of research: donor demographics, motivations and barriers, adverse reactions and deferral, contextual factors, and blood centre factors. Results on donor demographics, motivations and barriers, and contextual factors were inconclusive, differing between studies, countries, and sample characteristics. Adverse reactions and deferral were negatively related to blood donor behaviour. Blood centre factors play an important role in donor management, e.g., providing information, reminders, and (non-)monetary rewards. No studies were found on network characteristics of (non-)donors.

DISCUSSION

Although individual and contextual characteristics strongly relate to blood donor status and behaviour, mechanisms underlying these relations have not been studied sufficiently. We want to stress the importance of longitudinal studies in donor behaviour, exploring the role of life events and network characteristics within blood donor careers. Increased understanding of donor behaviour will assist policy makers of blood collection agencies, with the ultimate goal of safeguarding a sufficient and matching blood supply.

Hemochromatosis and blood donation

The voluntary, unpaid, altruistic blood donor is a cornerstone of current transfusion medicine. The complexity of medical and ethical issues related to blood donation and hemochromatosis has led to a large number of studies related to the safety of the hemochromatosis donor and the quality of the blood components produced from these donations. The issue of accepting persons with HC as blood donors is diverting, both in Europe and worldwide and without joint guidelines. A questionnaire-based study was performed and mailed to all 25 blood bank leaders in Norway. Descriptive analysis was used to evaluate the data. Eight of 22 blood banks strictly followed national guidelines concerning persons with hemochromatosis. Other blood banks make local adjustments. 16 of 22 responding blood banks accept hemochromatosis donors and five do not, and one answered partly yes. The reasons the blood bank leaders supported the acceptance of hemochromatosis donors differ. Based on published papers and the present questionnaire, we believe that a clear definition of the "hemochromatosis donor" and guidelines with more detailed information on an acceptable donation regime would be important to overcome the weak points in blood donor eligibility criteria.

The watching-eyes phenomenon and blood donation: Does exposure to pictures of eyes increase blood donation by young adults?

This study examined the effectiveness of exposure to a "watching-eyes image" in increasing blood donation rates among young people, a segment of the population that is particularly underrepresented among blood donors. Participants were 454 first-year university students, each of who was given a blood-donation flyer at the beginning of a lecture. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions depending on whether the flyer they received bore a picture of eyes (experimental condition) or a neutral picture (control condition). We recorded the numbers of participants who promised to give blood and who actually gave blood during the blood drive. Results show that the number of people who gave blood was significantly higher in the experimental condition than in the control condition. These findings provide the first evidence of the effectiveness of the watching-eyes strategy in encouraging young people to give blood. We discuss the processes underlying the "watching-eyes effect" with respect to blood donation.

[Ethical issues in transfusion medicine]

Ethics is on the cross road of off values that are present along the ways of transfusion medicine. This is an important tool to afford opinions as well as debates that always emerge when discussing transfusion medicine. The wording is particularly important; this was one among several others that characterized the soul of Jean-Jacques Lefrère when he opened the doors of the ethical issues of transfusion medicine.

Rudimentary empathy in macaques' social decision-making

Primates live in highly social environments, where prosocial behaviors promote social bonds and cohesion and contribute to group members' fitness. Despite a growing interest in the biological basis of nonhuman primates' social interactions, their underlying motivations remain a matter of debate. We report that macaque monkeys take into account the welfare of their peers when making behavioral choices bringing about pleasant or unpleasant outcomes to a monkey partner. Two macaques took turns in making decisions that could impact their own welfare or their partner's. Most monkeys were inclined to refrain from delivering a mildly aversive airpuff and to grant juice rewards to their partner. Choice consistency between these two types of outcome suggests that monkeys display coherent motivations in different social interactions. Furthermore, spontaneous affilitative group interactions in the home environment were mostly consistent with the measured social decisions, thus emphasizing the impact of preexisting social bonds on decision-making. Interestingly, unique behavioral markers predicted these decisions: benevolence was associated with enhanced mutual gaze and empathic eye blinking, whereas indifference or malevolence was associated with lower or suppressed such responses. Together our results suggest that prosocial decision-making is sustained by an intrinsic motivation for social affiliation and controlled through positive and negative vicarious reinforcements.

The heritability of blood donation: a population-based nationwide twin study

BACKGROUND

Voluntary blood donation is believed to be mostly motivated by altruism. Because studies have suggested that altruistic personality is determined by both genetic and environmental factors, we speculated that willingness to donate blood could also be governed by constitutional factors. This hypothesis was tested in a study among Danish twins.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

The nationwide Danish Twin Register, which is virtually complete for all twins born since 1968, was linked with Danish portion of the Scandinavian Donation and Transfusion (SCANDAT) Database, which includes information on all active Danish blood donors from 2002 to 2012, to establish blood donor status for Danish twins, who at age 17 years became eligible for donation in 2002 or later. Casewise concordance in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins were presented and heritability was estimated in Mx by variance component analysis in a liability threshold model.

RESULTS

A total of 274 MZ and 484 same-sex DZ twins age 17 to 27 years were identified as donors in SCANDAT. There was no difference between MZ and DZ twins with regard to age at first donation or number of donations. Casewise concordance rates were 0.61 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.56-0.67) and 0.41 (95% CI, 0.36-0.47) in MZ and DZ twin pairs, respectively. Heritability analysis using the ACE model found that additive genetic and shared environmental effects accounted for 0.53 (95% CI, 0.33-0.73) and 0.28 (95% CI, 0.10-0.45) of the variance in the motivation to donate blood, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Becoming a volunteer blood donor is determined by both genetic and environmental factors shared within families.