Previous studies have found that temporarily deferred donors sometimes believe that their deferral is permanent. In order to determine whether educational materials prompt temporarily deferred donors to return to donate blood, researchers in Australia randomized 30 blood donation centers to three arms: i) in-center brochure explaining the common reasons for temporary deferral plus an email thanking donors and reminding them to return to donate within seven days of the deferral, ii) email only, or iii) standard intervention. Standard intervention when a donor is deferred in Australia consists of a conversation between staff and potential donor about why they were deferred and the length of the deferral. Staff at the centers assigned to the brochure plus email arm received additional training in how to best define deferrals in lay terms, frame the reason for the deferral in terms of the donor’s health, and the date that they could return to donate. Based on 6,110 donations from donors who were temporarily deferred (30.3% first time donors), the donors who received the in-center brochure plus an email (N=2047) had an increased odds of returning to donate compared to control donors receiving standard deferral information (N=2011) (OR: 1.16; 95% C.I., 1.00-1.33). Email reminders only (N=2052) were not more effective than standard deferral procedures. Effectively educating temporarily deferred donors may prompt them to return to donate blood.
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