Barriers and motivators of Ghanaian and African‐Surinamese migrants to donate blood

Abstract

African migrants are underrepresented as blood donors in many Western countries, which can lead to shortages of specific blood types for transfusion. More insight in the reasons for this underrepresentation is required to improve blood donor recruitment and retention strategies. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore barriers and motivators for donating blood among migrants of African background. The research population consisted of first and second generation African‐Surinamese (n = 20) and Ghanaian (n = 16) migrants living in the Netherlands. In semi‐structured personal interviews performed in 2016 and 2017, their experiences and opinions regarding blood donation, barriers, and motivators to (not) become a blood donor and their suggestions to improve recruitment were explored. Data collection was continued until data saturation was achieved. The interviews revealed that although all participants knew about blood donation in general, only four had previously heard of the Dutch national blood bank organisation. Participants expected that if blood was needed, the blood bank would directly approach them, as in their country of origin. Other main blood donation barriers were fear (e.g., of needles, losing too much blood) and issues related to health and non‐eligibility to donate. Main motivators were mainly of altruistic nature (e.g., saving a life) and an increased awareness of the need via personal recruitment appeals. It is concluded that expectations regarding donor recruitment—derived from the country of origin—and unawareness of the need for blood can act as important barriers in blood donation among African migrants. Contrary to studies in the United States and Australia, perceived discrimination and social exclusion did not seem to be a donation deterrent among migrants in the Netherlands. Creating awareness of the need of blood by actively approaching, and informing migrants about the donation procedure in the host country, should be considered by blood banks.

Ensuring HLA‐matched platelet support requires an ethnic diverse donor population

“…The preponderance of non‐Caucasian patients in the group with insufficient donors suggests that additional typing and recruitment among ethnic minorities could increase the likelihood to find a compatible donor, as it would increase the genetic variability among the donor population. Blood donorship from immigrants of mainly African ancestry could be stimulated using specific campaigns to increase awareness and to overcome differences in expectations regarding donorship . Currently, we are investigating to what extent it is possible to register the ethnicity of a donor to target the typing of new platelet donors.…”

Analysis Of The Marketing Activities In The Blood Service: Bibliometric Analysis

“…It was analyzed 71 documents to identify stimulants and the stationary nature of stimulatory factors that influence their blood donation and blood safety behavior (Chell et al, 2018). It was analyzed barriers to blood structure among the North African population (Klinkenberg et al, 2019).…”

Unknown, so also unvalued? Blood donation awareness and attitudes of potential donors of Dutch and African descent

“…Past studies examining donation barriers and motivators suggest a lower donation awareness and more negative donation attitudes towards donating blood in potential African donors [1,10]. For example, Lemmens, Abraham [11] found a significant positive correlation between knowledge and affective and cognitive attitude.…”

“…Unawareness of blood donation has been reported as a major reason why African minority groups are underrepresented as blood donors, while on the other hand these groups seem relatively more motivated by awareness raising and donation requests than White majority groups [1]. In an interview study among Ghanaians and African‐Surinamese people in the Netherlands, only 11% of the participants recognized the name or logo of the Dutch blood bank organization: ‘Sanquin’ [10]. Participants had not actively thought of becoming a blood donor, also because they had never been approached about it.…”

“…because of the perception that their blood is not wanted or will be wasted) and that they are generally more afraid of needles and pain as compared to White Americans [1,27,28]. In our qualitative interview study among African migrants living in the Netherlands, the overall general opinion towards giving blood was positive, but participants reacted more hesitantly when asked about their own attitude to donate blood [10].…”