Jon Stone at the Independent: “With blood donation rates in decline all over the developed world, Sweden’s blood service is enlisting new technology to help push back against shortages.
One new initiative, where donors are sent automatic text messages telling them when their blood has actually been used, has caught the public eye.
People who donate initially receive a ‘thank you’ text when they give blood, but they get another message when their blood makes it into somebody else’s veins.
“We are constantly trying to develop ways to express [donors’] importance,” Karolina Blom Wiberg, a communications manager at the Stockholm blood service told The Independent.
“We want to give them feed back on their effort, and we find this is a good way to do that.”
The service says the messages give donors more positive feedback about how they’ve helped their fellow citizens – which encourages them to donate again.
But the new policy has also been a hit on social media and has got people talking about blood donation amongst their friends….(More)”
