Unlocking the potential of Filipino blood donors: a giving and engaging community
Background
Changes in migration patterns to Australia have resulted in significant changes to the range of ethnicities in the population. This is important because the prevalence of blood types differs between people with different ethnic ancestries which can lead to difficulty in meeting the needs of patients who require repeat transfusions. Filipino people have a relatively higher frequency of a rare blood type known as Jknull (Jk(a–b–)), although it is still only present in ~1.4% of that population. Demand for Jknull blood in Australia is increasing, but only 13 current donors in Australia are known to have this blood type. Our aim was to explore the perspectives of donors with Filipino ethnic ancestry on donating blood, and participating in research.
Method
A qualitative approach was used to identify intersubjective meanings and generate explanatory concepts to answer the research questions and inform future work on this topic.
We conducted three focus groups and four interviews with 17 participants online via Microsoft teams. All participants were of Filipino ethnic ancestry. Most participants were from NSW or QLD and the mean age of participants was 42 years. Focus groups were conducted to obtain insights generated through group discussion and interaction on the topics of interest. Interviews were conducted with donors who were not able to participate in the focus groups.
Results
Being part of the Filipino community in Australia was salient for participants and their family and friends. Participants thought community views on blood donation in Australia were informed by systems in the Philippines where donating is seen as a one-off request if there is a need within the family or friends or was seen as a paid activity.
Participants reported feeling as though they were doing something good through blood donation, which was reinforced by the knowledge of who their donations were helping. Participants mentioned obtaining this information through the text messages received after donation, through information received in centre and through knowing blood product recipients. However, lack of education and awareness about the blood donation process, concerns about safety such as the perception that needles were re-used, being worried of needle insertion or weighing less than 50 kilos were seen as barriers towards blood donation.
Participants were positive about participating in research especially if it benefited their community. However, they expressed caution about the privacy and confidentiality of research data, particularly linkage of their research and donation data with external health records and preferred to provide consent for a specific use of their data or samples than to provide broad consent. Participants also voiced their concerns about participating in research run by an organisation other than Lifeblood, particularly research involving the use of genomic data. They thought that understanding how the research would lead to better health outcomes for Filipinos would increase participation. Participants wanted to know how any genomic results collected and returned would be kept confidential, how this information is de-identified and how they would be informed about any incidental findings identified.
Conclusion
Overall, Filipino Australians are open to donating as the idea of helping loved ones and feeling good about doing something helpful was highly appealing. However, participants thought that some individuals would be hesitant to donate blood because they do not know much about the process, have concerns about re-used needles, are afraid of needle insertion, think they might not be eligible, or their blood is not good enough. Participants also discussed that Filipino Australians would be interested in participating in research if they have clear, trustworthy information and feel confident about privacy and the positive impact of their contribution.