YAWARweb: Pilot study about the usage of a web service to raise awareness of blood donation campaigns on university campuses in Lima, Peru

Abstract

This document presents a preliminary study about a pilot deployment of a web service. The service is used as means to raise awareness in university campuses prior to blood donation campaigns and to measure its effect into posterior donor enrollment. The measure the level of awareness a score range from zero to four inclusive was set. It was quantified before and after giving the information. This allowed evaluating the score change influenced by the received information. Another important metric was the contrast between the community participation between the blood donation campaigns at 12th June 2018 and June 2017. During these campaigns 41 and 25 blood units were collected following the new approach and the traditional way respectively. This variation represents an increase of 64% with respect to the campaign carried out in 2017 by INSN-SB, where the only variation was the use of the application YAWARweb. Moreover, in 2018 there were 36 people interested to donate. Nonetheless, it was not possible because of insufficient hemoglobin, narrow veins, and other causes. This research has as goal to evaluate the usage of our survey through a web service as a tool to raise awareness in university campuses prior to blood donation campaigns. This survey will provide information to the participants about the benefits of blood donation. Thus, creating an incentive to participate in the campaigns and getting the results as an increment of the number of participants. Our group keeps working on preventive health and changing the picture of blood donation leveraged by technology development. The document starts with a general summary of the situation of blood donation in Peru, and then it analyzes the population where the tool is applied. It then proceeds to the methodology of implementation of YAWARweb. Finally, it presents the results of the use of the web application in the community as a method of raising awareness.