Ecuador: Promoting blood donation in the province of Santa Elena *
Despite the growth of the Ecuadorian population during the five-year period between 2010 and 2014, the percentage of active blood donors has barely budged, standing at only 1.4%. According to data from the local Medical Transfusions Service of the Ministry of Public Health (MPH), the number of transfusions rose between 2013 and 2017 in the province of Santa Elena (from 975 to 3,314), but voluntary donations did not cover these requirements.
Intersectoral action by the nursing program at Península de Santa Elena State University (UPSE), by the MPH, and by nongovernment blood banks helped to increase regular, altruistic volunteer donors in the province. This was achieved by improving health promotion strategies, using specially trained university students as promoters of the program.
The long-term objective was to have sufficient blood units to reduce the risk of mortality in pregnant women, the chronically ill, and multiple-trauma patients. To this end, a system to monitor and follow up on repeat donors was created, using a Java-based app, with an online database server.
The project was designed in association with the School of Information Technology, which made it possible to manage the database of donors who had participated in blood drives. The number of regular, altruistic volunteer donors increased, and myths and misconceptions about blood donation were revealed that had previously discouraged a rise in donations.
Using primary health care strategies, public awareness was raised through interpersonal dialogue, recreational activities, and social networks. Surveys were conducted after blood donations to optimize the different aspects of the process, promote participation in blood drives, and foster cultural changes by addressing the myths and deeply-held beliefs that had kept people from donating. Clubs were formed among first-year nursing students, aimed at carrying out qualitative and quantitative participatory action research.
The program promoted good practices in primary health care in the following ways:
- It began in 2015 as a response to low rates of regular, altruistic volunteer donations in the province, and the Medical Transfusions Service in the Dr. Liborio Panchana Sotomayor General Hospital was established the same year.
- The program raised the profile of blood donation, not only in the nursing training program, but among all students and teachers. Of these, approximately 50% became donors during the different drives that were organized, generating a database that currently surpasses 2,000 donors.
- The students used different community strategies, such as fairs, open houses, information stands, conferences, radio campaigns, one-on-one talks, different interactive media, and online social networks. Events were also held in public and private companies, in churches, parks, and shopping centers.
- This field was comprehensively and practically incorporated into the training of nursing students, who were encouraged to understand the importance of regular, altruistic volunteer donating as a means of reducing mortality caused by blood shortages.
Results
A university committed to its society accepted the challenge of working in blood donation, organizing intersectoral projects with inherent urgency and risk.
Complications related to pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium (16%), as well as traffic accidents (8%), are among the leading six conditions requiring transfusions in the province of Santa Elena.
A crucial factor in the campaign was the recommendation for the students who carried out the program and the sensitized community to adopt healthier lifestyles. This encouraged participants to be in the best possible condition to become regular, altruistic volunteer donors.
Recommendations
Due to its impact, the program was extended for two more years as a project to forge closer ties between UPSE and the community, from 2015 to 2019. The new training phase brought in first-to-third-semester students as blood donation promoters, maintaining the university’s strategy. They continued this program as part of their Community Nursing class, an experience that can be applied in other universities as a contribution to public policy.
An extract from Perspectives and Contributions of Nursing to the Promotion of Universal Health (PAHO,2020)
* Disclaimer
Authors hold sole responsibility for the views expressed in their texts, which may not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of the Pan American Health Organization. The mention of specific companies or certain manufacturers' products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended in preference to other ones of a similar nature.
Doris Marcela Castillo Tomalá.Universidad Estatal Península de Santa Elena
María Dolores Suárez Villao. Universidad Estatal Península de Santa Elena
Sonnia Apolonia Santos Holguín . Universidad Estatal Península de Santa Elena
Intersectoral action by the nursing program at Península de Santa Elena State University (UPSE)
*Photos: Courtesy from the authors
