INCENTIVISING BLOOD DONATION
Abstract
Objective: This report aims to assess the impact of providing incentives for blood donation and
seeks to explain some of the benefits of incentivizing blood donation.
Background: Blood donation is the act of donating blood for people who require it to survive. It
is said that one “blood donation can save up to three lives” (BSC, n.d, para. 1). But statistics
depict that most of the eligible people do not donate. With the increasing number of donations
needed each year and the decreasing number of donors, some measures must be taken. Incentives
then come into the picture as one of the methods to help increase and retain donors. Incentives
are anything that helps persuade someone to do something. Incentivizing blood donation has had
a major positive impact and evidence of so will be discussed in this report.
Method: Different databases like ProQuest, science direct, Pubmed, ebscohost, etc were
analyzed and accessed through google scholar and the University of Central Lancashire library.
Websites like Wiley online library, jstor.org, cedars-sinai.org, etc were used as well. Boolean
operators like ‘AND’ and ‘OR’ were used to refine the results of the research. The research was
consolidated by using keywords like "Blood donation," "incentives," "importance," and so on in
the search bar, as well as by attempting to limit the data to the UK and US. The research
information was limited to the articles and other works published after the 2000s. This was done
to ensure newer, relevant, and more accurate content
Discussion: The research explored the negatives and positives of incentivizing blood donation
and also helped prove the great impact incentives have on blood donation. The different types of
incentives which are the monetary and non-monetary incentives were thoroughly analyzed and
the difference in impact was noted. The number of people needing donations has been peaking
due to the increase in disease outbreaks around the world. If people don’t donate now, it will
become a nationwide problem causing so many deaths and causing so many to lose their loved
ones. There was a brief discussion about maintaining the safety of blood. A lesser discussed
aspect which is how incentives help both the donors and recipients during natural disasters was
researched upon. Also, methods like ensuring blood donation establishments are more “attentive
to the value of incentives offered to their donors” (Lacetera N, 2013, p. 129), were mentioned
which would help reduce the negative impacts of providing incentives.
1
, Conclusion: Based on a review of all results, it can be concluded that incentivizing blood
donation has proven very effective in the past. This will continue in the future as well.
Statistically, most people who donate do so out of altruistic motives, and even if they donate
blood having selfish motives like money in mind, it nonetheless manages to save lives. Donor
numbers have increased by a wide margin due to incentives, and donor retention has also
improved significantly. Additional research on wider topics like the effect on mortality rates and
economic impact should be undertaken to improve results. The report, therefore, depicts the
benefits of incentivizing blood donation.
Introduction
Incentives are said to be tools “used to enhance the effectiveness of recruitment and participation
in different campaigns” (chell, K, 2018, p. 242). Incentivising an important campaign like blood
donation can help millions around the world. This paper seeks to discuss the relationship
between providing incentives and an increased rate of blood donation. Providing incentives is
related to the likeliness of people pursuing an activity if it is rewarded (Healy k, 2006). Although
the benefits of offering incentives for blood donation can be appreciated, the possibility that
some may engage in blood donation campaigns for selfish reasons cannot be ignored. The
outcome of different types of incentives for participation in the donation of blood will also be
explored. Blood donation is an integral part of the medical field. “In medical emergencies, blood
transfusions are often the only way to save an individual's life” (Higgins, 1994, p. 52). Blood
transfusion is a procedure where the patient is given someone else’s (donor) blood. Despite this,
there is a huge shortage of blood and blood donors in hospitals around the world. Research
shows that “more than 38,000 blood donations are needed every day” (Cedars Sinai, n. d, why
your donation matters, para. 4). The figure clearly shows how desperately hospitals need more
blood donors. Especially in the case of people with certain rare blood types since blood
donations are allogenic which means that the blood and its components are acquired from an
individual but it is to be used for another individual. Millions die around the world due to a lack
of the right blood type in blood banks. So if there is a way to help reduce the mortality rate it
should be implemented. Additionally, the study explains why even if people participate in this
campaign for selfish reasons, it still benefits someone in the world, proving the tremendous
impact incentives have on blood donation.
Method
To gather data for this report a literature review was conducted. Multiple articles were analyzed
from various databases. Some of the databases were Pubmed, Science Direct, Proquest, Medline,
ebscohost, etc accessed through google scholar and the University of Central Lancashire library.
Other resources used were web pages like onlinelibrary.wiley, jstor.org, etc. The research was
made concise by using keywords like “Blood donation”, “incentives”, “Importance” etc in the
search bar and also by limiting the data to the specific location of the UK and US. Boolean
operators like ‘AND’ and ‘OR’ were utilized to help refine the number of results. The date filter
was also used to pick results after the 2000s, to ensure that the results were newer, relevant, and
accurate. To make the research more reliable it looked to use information from peer-reviewed
2
Abstract
Objective: This report aims to assess the impact of providing incentives for blood donation and
seeks to explain some of the benefits of incentivizing blood donation.
Background: Blood donation is the act of donating blood for people who require it to survive. It
is said that one “blood donation can save up to three lives” (BSC, n.d, para. 1). But statistics
depict that most of the eligible people do not donate. With the increasing number of donations
needed each year and the decreasing number of donors, some measures must be taken. Incentives
then come into the picture as one of the methods to help increase and retain donors. Incentives
are anything that helps persuade someone to do something. Incentivizing blood donation has had
a major positive impact and evidence of so will be discussed in this report.
Method: Different databases like ProQuest, science direct, Pubmed, ebscohost, etc were
analyzed and accessed through google scholar and the University of Central Lancashire library.
Websites like Wiley online library, jstor.org, cedars-sinai.org, etc were used as well. Boolean
operators like ‘AND’ and ‘OR’ were used to refine the results of the research. The research was
consolidated by using keywords like "Blood donation," "incentives," "importance," and so on in
the search bar, as well as by attempting to limit the data to the UK and US. The research
information was limited to the articles and other works published after the 2000s. This was done
to ensure newer, relevant, and more accurate content
Discussion: The research explored the negatives and positives of incentivizing blood donation
and also helped prove the great impact incentives have on blood donation. The different types of
incentives which are the monetary and non-monetary incentives were thoroughly analyzed and
the difference in impact was noted. The number of people needing donations has been peaking
due to the increase in disease outbreaks around the world. If people don’t donate now, it will
become a nationwide problem causing so many deaths and causing so many to lose their loved
ones. There was a brief discussion about maintaining the safety of blood. A lesser discussed
aspect which is how incentives help both the donors and recipients during natural disasters was
researched upon. Also, methods like ensuring blood donation establishments are more “attentive
to the value of incentives offered to their donors” (Lacetera N, 2013, p. 129), were mentioned
which would help reduce the negative impacts of providing incentives.
1
, Conclusion: Based on a review of all results, it can be concluded that incentivizing blood
donation has proven very effective in the past. This will continue in the future as well.
Statistically, most people who donate do so out of altruistic motives, and even if they donate
blood having selfish motives like money in mind, it nonetheless manages to save lives. Donor
numbers have increased by a wide margin due to incentives, and donor retention has also
improved significantly. Additional research on wider topics like the effect on mortality rates and
economic impact should be undertaken to improve results. The report, therefore, depicts the
benefits of incentivizing blood donation.
Introduction
Incentives are said to be tools “used to enhance the effectiveness of recruitment and participation
in different campaigns” (chell, K, 2018, p. 242). Incentivising an important campaign like blood
donation can help millions around the world. This paper seeks to discuss the relationship
between providing incentives and an increased rate of blood donation. Providing incentives is
related to the likeliness of people pursuing an activity if it is rewarded (Healy k, 2006). Although
the benefits of offering incentives for blood donation can be appreciated, the possibility that
some may engage in blood donation campaigns for selfish reasons cannot be ignored. The
outcome of different types of incentives for participation in the donation of blood will also be
explored. Blood donation is an integral part of the medical field. “In medical emergencies, blood
transfusions are often the only way to save an individual's life” (Higgins, 1994, p. 52). Blood
transfusion is a procedure where the patient is given someone else’s (donor) blood. Despite this,
there is a huge shortage of blood and blood donors in hospitals around the world. Research
shows that “more than 38,000 blood donations are needed every day” (Cedars Sinai, n. d, why
your donation matters, para. 4). The figure clearly shows how desperately hospitals need more
blood donors. Especially in the case of people with certain rare blood types since blood
donations are allogenic which means that the blood and its components are acquired from an
individual but it is to be used for another individual. Millions die around the world due to a lack
of the right blood type in blood banks. So if there is a way to help reduce the mortality rate it
should be implemented. Additionally, the study explains why even if people participate in this
campaign for selfish reasons, it still benefits someone in the world, proving the tremendous
impact incentives have on blood donation.
Method
To gather data for this report a literature review was conducted. Multiple articles were analyzed
from various databases. Some of the databases were Pubmed, Science Direct, Proquest, Medline,
ebscohost, etc accessed through google scholar and the University of Central Lancashire library.
Other resources used were web pages like onlinelibrary.wiley, jstor.org, etc. The research was
made concise by using keywords like “Blood donation”, “incentives”, “Importance” etc in the
search bar and also by limiting the data to the specific location of the UK and US. Boolean
operators like ‘AND’ and ‘OR’ were utilized to help refine the number of results. The date filter
was also used to pick results after the 2000s, to ensure that the results were newer, relevant, and
accurate. To make the research more reliable it looked to use information from peer-reviewed
2
