Exploring the blood donation problem in the u.s. and the use of emergent and disruptive technologies to attract new donors
نویسندگان
1 Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA.
2 Department of Computer Science, College of Computing and Software Engineering, Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA.
3 Department of Information Technology, College of Computing and Software Engineering, Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA.
4 Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA.
5 Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA.
6 Department of Integrated Health Science, WellStar College of Health and Human Services, Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA.
7 Department of Game Design and Software Engineering, Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA.
8 Grady Memorial Hospital, Georgia, USA.
doi
10.22105/riej.2024.472560.1466چکیده
A greater understanding of the obstacles and misconceptions towards blood donation is needed to address the ongoing challenges of increasing the nation's blood supply levels. Whereas 62% of the US population is eligible to donate blood, only 3% of the US population donates blood each year. This study aims to elucidate the ongoing blood donation problem in the US and highlight the use of emerging and disruptive technologies in attracting new donors. A systematic literature review using the PRISMA flow diagram resulted in a final review of 166 papers from 1970-2024 retrieved from several scientific databases, which were categorized by common themes to answer the following three research questions: RQ1: What are the current problems and issues concerning the recruitment and retention of blood donors in the US? RQ2: What personal and social barriers, including misconceptions, exist that preclude people from donating blood? RQ3: How is the development of emerging and disruptive technology used to attract blood donors? There is a 10-year trend of declining blood donations in the US, particularly among younger donors. From 2019 to 2021, there was a 62.5% decline in blood donations from individuals in the 16-18 age group, a 34.9% decline in donations from individuals 19-24 years old, an 8.9% increase in donations from individuals 25-64 years old, and a 34.8% increase in donations from individuals sixty-five and older. Reported obstacles include personal and social barriers, including misconceptions about donating blood, distrust in the US healthcare system, and fear of needles or pain. The decline in donations from individuals 16-24 years old may be attributed to restrictions placed on school blood drives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conversely, the increase in donations from the sixty-five and older age group may signal that a sizable portion of blood donors (i.e., baby boomers) are advancing. The continued development of emerging and disruptive technologies, such as ubiquitous computing smartphones, social media, blood mobile apps, Virtual Reality (VR), blockchain technology, neural networks, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), affords alternative approaches to overcoming these obstacles versus traditional means of attracting new donors.
