Bloodworks Northwest develops app to reach millennial donors
Oct 16, 2018, 6:08 AM
There is a shortage of blood donations in the Northwest region, and a big reason is that while the baby boom generation was taught about giving blood, the next generation didn’t quite get into the habit. Bloodworks Northwest is trying to change that. Now, there’s and app for that.
“Degree 37 is a technology company that was created here in Seattle specifically to help Bloodworks Northwest develop an app to help reach the millennial generation, and create a whole new generation of givers,” said Bill Harper with Degree 37.
The lack of donation is about more than simply fearing the prick of the needle. Millennials seem to be generally unaware of the process itself, and how to get involved.
“Millennials basically don’t know how to donate blood, and they don’t know where to donate blood,” Harper said. “The reason for donating blood was never exactly explained to them in the way that it was to the baby boomer generation.”
While today’s generation is very connected on social media, blood banks have struggled to reach them on there.
“This app should solve that,” Harper said.
Available for Ios and Android platforms, the Bloodworks donor app shows you the locations for the blood banks nearest you, allows you to schedule a blood donation appointment, and lets you share that you donated on social media. It even lets you keep track of the number of pints of blood you’ve donated and the number of lives you’ve impacted.
Bloodworks Northwest app
This is an especially personal issue for Harper, who has undergone 267 transfusions as a result of leukemia, surgeries, and “a lot of bad luck.” Without blood donations, Harper says he wouldn’t have survived. Even so, he understands that fear of the needle that some have, and hope they’ll see past that.
“There’s certainly an element of that, and even as someone who’s had as much blood work and needle stabs and bone marrow biopsies as I have, I totally understand the fear of needles,” Harper said.
“However, if millennials begin to understand that the reason for donating blood is that it helps people just like them, just like the people they care about, like their brothers, sisters, fathers, grandparents, then that fear can be overcome.”
Besides, those who do donate might end up with much more than a cookie. The app features raffles for Seahawks tickets, prizes from indoor skydiving company ifly, and numerous other promotions.
“We also offer chips,” joked Harper.
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