by Todd Pheifer

Created on: April 20, 2009

One might think that giving blood would be an easy contribution to solicit. After all, most people know that blood is a very precious resource and most people would admit some knowledge regarding an ongoing need for donations. However, there are still several factors that prevent people from stepping forward and taking personal action. Here are a few thoughts on why people do not give blood on a regular basis.

Fear of sharp things

For some people, a resistance to donating blood down to the needle. Unfortunately, modern medicine has not removed the need for needles to be used in the donation process. Despite the care of medical professionals, needles still involve some amount of pain. Most people try to avoid pain in their lives, so having a needle stuck in their arm is enough to scare people away. For some, the needle is enough to cause a sort of mental block that prevents donating.

Good intentions

Some people live their lives with a constant list of "good" intentions. Donating blood is one of those activities that people know they "should" do more often, but they continue to prioritize other tasks and events. When reminded, people may even say, "Yeah, I need get to that soon." Unfortunately, good intentions do not always translate to action and donating blood gets bumped down the "to do" list.

Lack of information

People are not always aware of multiple aspects of their surroundings. When it comes to donating blood, many people can exist in an "out-of-sight-out-of-mind" frame of thinking. In other words, if blood donations are not on someone's "radar", they may go long stretches of time without thinking about it. Sometimes it takes a close friend or family member having a medical issue for people to become more aware.

Help from others?

Finally, there is the issue of community efforts. This is related to lack of information because people sometimes assume that others will take care of the problem. Or, they assume that if the problem gets intense enough, "someone" will get the word out and let them know. There are, of course, flaws in this logic because blood banks ask people all the time for donations and there are consistent times when the national blood supply is "low". Still, people are often selective in what they pay attention to, which leads to skipped donation sessions.

Overall, donating blood is not complex but people don't usually have to work terribly hard at convincing themselves not to give. Oftentimes this is not done maliciously, but the combination of needles and hassle can cause people to temporarily or permanently skip the donating process. As with many things, personal action comes down to incentive. If people do not see an incentive, they may not take action.

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