A short phone call raised donors' own drive; only keen donors tried again more

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   484 first-time donors with blood group O at two US blood centres, in New York and Cincinnati. About 62 in 100 were women, and they were about 30 on average.

2. 02

   What they did

   About six weeks after giving blood, one group had a 13-minute phone call about their reasons, fears, confidence and values. Where it fitted, they also planned when and where to give and how to get past barriers. The other group had a call that thanked them and said when they could give again.

3. 03

   What happened

   A week later, the call group's own drive to give had risen more than the other group's. There was no result on repeat donations for everyone together. Among keen donors, about 71 in 100 tried to give again within 60 weeks, against 55 in 100; others showed no difference.

What the study found

1. HelpedMotivation

   A short call about reasons, barriers and plans raised donors' own drive to give blood more than a reminder call.

   • Action: Talk through your mixed feelings about changingtested
   • Action: Make an if-then plan for your obstacletested
   • Rule: Write down when and wheretested

   Randomised trial of 484 first-time blood donors in the US · vs a thank-you call with a next-date reminder · behaviour was recorded

2. MixedGoals

   Only donors who were already keen tried to give again more often after this call than after a plain call.

   • Action: Talk through your mixed feelings about changingtested
   • Rule: Write down when and wheretested

   Randomised trial of 484 first-time blood donors in the US · vs a thank-you call with a next-date reminder · behaviour was recorded

Source