Motivators, facilitators, and barriers to blood donation in Australia by people from ethnic minority groups: Perspectives of sub-Saharan African, East/South-East Asian, and Melanesian/Polynesian blood donors

Abstract

With the changing ethnic composition of the Australian population there has been a growing number of patients requiring transfusions of rarer blood types. People from ethnic minority groups are generally less likely to donate blood and this can lead to shortages for some patients from these communities. In this article we report the findings of a qualitative study of ethnic minority blood donors in Australia. We found that many of the motivators, facilitators, and barriers to donation raised by participants have been previously documented for non-ethnic minority donors, such as the desire to help others and the role of knowledge about blood donation. However, for participants these were enmeshed with, and shaped by, their culture and/or minority status. The findings demonstrate the multifaceted and interrelated nature of the motivators, facilitators, and barriers experienced by ethnic minorities to become and remain a blood donor in Australia.