The impact of COVID-19 on blood donations.
During a crisis, society calls for individuals to take prosocial actions that promote crisis management. Indeed, individuals show higher willingness to help after a disaster. However, the COVID-19 pandemic presents significant differences as it is an ongoing crisis that affects all individuals and h...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265171 |
| _version_ | 1811332043725864960 |
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| author | Besarta Veseli Sabrina Sandner Sinika Studte Michel Clement |
| author_facet | Besarta Veseli Sabrina Sandner Sinika Studte Michel Clement |
| author_sort | Besarta Veseli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | During a crisis, society calls for individuals to take prosocial actions that promote crisis management. Indeed, individuals show higher willingness to help after a disaster. However, the COVID-19 pandemic presents significant differences as it is an ongoing crisis that affects all individuals and has the potential to pose a direct health threat to anyone. Therefore, we propose that the pandemic may also negatively affect willingness to help, specifically blood donation intentions. It requires a high level of willingness to donate blood beyond the crisis outbreak, as more blood will be needed when postponed surgeries resume. When comparing blood donation intentions from a pre-pandemic study to results from a six-wave (bi-weekly) panel study conducted in Germany during the first pandemic phase (April to June 2020), we find lower medium and long-term blood donation intentions. While active donors show increased awareness of ability and eligibility to donate at the beginning of the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic, they feel significantly less able to donate as the pandemic progresses. Furthermore, inactive donors' perceived ability to donate significantly decreases in the pandemic phase compared to the pre-pandemic phase. Crucially, both active and inactive donors feel less responsible and less morally obliged to donate, resulting in an overall negative pandemic effect on blood donation intentions. The COVID-19 pandemic compromises blood donations endangering the life-saving blood supply. These alarming results offer evidence-based grounds for practical implications for driving donations in the event of a pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:29:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c3b4844a5a9847bea0c65bcdfdc369e1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:29:58Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-c3b4844a5a9847bea0c65bcdfdc369e12022-12-22T02:39:36ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01173e026517110.1371/journal.pone.0265171The impact of COVID-19 on blood donations.Besarta VeseliSabrina SandnerSinika StudteMichel ClementDuring a crisis, society calls for individuals to take prosocial actions that promote crisis management. Indeed, individuals show higher willingness to help after a disaster. However, the COVID-19 pandemic presents significant differences as it is an ongoing crisis that affects all individuals and has the potential to pose a direct health threat to anyone. Therefore, we propose that the pandemic may also negatively affect willingness to help, specifically blood donation intentions. It requires a high level of willingness to donate blood beyond the crisis outbreak, as more blood will be needed when postponed surgeries resume. When comparing blood donation intentions from a pre-pandemic study to results from a six-wave (bi-weekly) panel study conducted in Germany during the first pandemic phase (April to June 2020), we find lower medium and long-term blood donation intentions. While active donors show increased awareness of ability and eligibility to donate at the beginning of the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic, they feel significantly less able to donate as the pandemic progresses. Furthermore, inactive donors' perceived ability to donate significantly decreases in the pandemic phase compared to the pre-pandemic phase. Crucially, both active and inactive donors feel less responsible and less morally obliged to donate, resulting in an overall negative pandemic effect on blood donation intentions. The COVID-19 pandemic compromises blood donations endangering the life-saving blood supply. These alarming results offer evidence-based grounds for practical implications for driving donations in the event of a pandemic.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265171 |
| spellingShingle | Besarta Veseli Sabrina Sandner Sinika Studte Michel Clement The impact of COVID-19 on blood donations. PLoS ONE |
| title | The impact of COVID-19 on blood donations. |
| title_full | The impact of COVID-19 on blood donations. |
| title_fullStr | The impact of COVID-19 on blood donations. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of COVID-19 on blood donations. |
| title_short | The impact of COVID-19 on blood donations. |
| title_sort | impact of covid 19 on blood donations |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265171 |
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