Mailing of a sickle cell disease educational packet increases blood donors within an African American community.

Background: Low blood donor rates among African American persons are recognized; however, few strategies exist to increase these numbers.

Study Design And Methods: A 1-year, prospective, ecologic study performed before and after an educational intervention designed to test the hypothesis that increased education about the importance of blood donation for children with sickle cell disease (SCD) would result in an increase in total blood donors among African American persons.

Results: Approximately 5000 videos were mailed to 50 percent of the households in a zip code where 98 percent of the residents are African American.

Barriers and motivators to blood and cord blood donations in young African-American women.

The primary aim of this study was to assess potential barriers and motivators to blood and cord blood donation among African-American women. A telephone survey of African-American women, ages 18-30 years, in the St. Louis metropolitan area was performed.

Inadequate community knowledge about sickle cell disease among African-American women.

Background: Federal legislation was passed in 1972 initiating genetic screening and community education about sickle cell disease (SCD). Few assessments have examined the impact of these programs. The aim of this study is to assess existing knowledge about SCD among African-American women in St.