The Australian Red Cross developed a novel program called Lifeblood Teams that utilizes social connections within workplaces, schools, sports, teams, houses of worship, and other social groups to provide friendly competition to promote blood donations (by type and number of lives saved). All individuals with a Lifeblood account were eligible to either join an existing team online or start a new team. As of 2023, over 14,000 teams donated 35% of all donations collected in Australia. Since donor satisfaction and retention is crucial to maintain a stable blood supply and little is known about donor satisfaction, researchers conducted a survey of 646 team donors (59% female; mean age, 49 years; mean team membership, 3.9 years; teams had between 2 and >7,000 members). The most frequently cited perceived benefit of donating as part of a team was “encouraging others to donate.” Overall, respondents were moderately satisfied with their team, but novice donors (one to five donations) were more satisfied than experienced donors (six or more donations) (p=0.017). No differences were found between novice and experienced blood donors in perceived benefits, team connection, or team advocacy. Further research on the effectiveness of team donations is needed.
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