Update on donor recruitment and management in blood service

Abstract

Voluntary non‐remunerated blood donation is the cornerstone of modern blood service which depends largely on community support and participation. Over the years, several efforts have been made on the adequacy of blood donation and blood safety. Although, significant improvement in blood safety profile has been seen, challenges in safety and adequacy still abound in every country. Since blood transfusion will never diminish, a balance between matching the right blood supply and managing the donors’ expectation need serious consideration. Besides, counteracting factors including ageing population/donors, population migration, socio‐economic factors and the increasing stringent donor selection criteria could definitely add to the difficulties. At the same time, the traditional intention for donation – ‘Give Blood Save Lives’ is no longer adequate nowadays, to reflect their expectations. Therefore, transfusion services have been working on ways to refresh and revisit the current donor recruitment and its management. Wide spread use of social media and data analysis in blood donation settings are typical examples which enabled them have a totally different approach in reaching and understanding donor behaviours. While those can either be passively originated from the donors or proactively disseminated from the blood service, they all create a dynamic and interactive culture among donors, blood services and the communities at large. With proper strategies, targeted donors (right age, sex, blood groups or others) are reached, donate blood and return to subsequent donation at their expectation. In summary, some challenges and possible solutions have been discussed to allow blood service operators revisit their needs as well as adapt and revise for their own applications.