College Students Need Better Information to Convince them to be Bone Marrow Donors

 Sarah Herring                                                                                                           

JRN100 Staff Reporter

 

Jack Chai, who benefited from a bone marrow transplant, poses for a family photo with his Parents Alan Chai and Deborah Huber. 

 Bone marrow donor recruiters need better awareness and education campaigns to attract college students, a recent report found.

The study, Getting to the Heart of Being the Match: a Qualitative Analysis of Bone Marrow Donor Recruitment and Retention Among Students, conducted a focus group with 76 college students to get a perspective on how to persuade college students to join the Be the Match bone marrow registry. 

Young donors are in high demand because bone marrow from this group leads to more successful transplants for patients, according to a study.

Study researchers found that students did not register because of misinformation or because they had prior negative donating experiences.

“Although their bad experiences may have with other common forms of donation, this may affect participants’ decision to join NMDP as these donation procedures are quite similar,” said the study.

The study recommended recruitment efforts focus on clarification and promotion to increase young donors and the likelihood they would follow through if they were matched with someone who needed a transplant.

Bone marrow received from younger individuals leads to more successful transplants for patients who cannot find donors in their families, the study said.

“For individuals needing a bone marrow transplant, 30% of people can find a match among family members. The other 70% must find suitable donors who are able to transplant from the registries,” said a study said, which was done by Kaster of Texas A&M University, Rogers of the University of Minnesota, Jeon of Texas A&M University, and Rosen of the University of Cincinnati.

Jennifer Sawle from Oakland, Cali., worked with the United States bone marrow registry, Be the Match, as the community engagement representative. She said it is important for younger individuals to join the registry because people who cannot get a donor's life are at risk.

“The main problem with bone marrow donations is that there is simply not enough. We are always looking for more donors of mixed ethnicities and recruitment of young individuals,” said Sawle.

Deb Huber understands the need for a robust registry and the life-saving gift a donor can make.

Huber lives in Mill Valley, Cali., with her husband Alan and son Jack. Several years ago, after returning home from a vacation, their life took a turn. Jack was 14.

“When we first came home from vacation, Jack attended his fitness class and couldn’t do the activities that were always easy for him. We noticed something was wrong when he couldn’t walk up the stairs,” said Huber punctuation

Jack was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a deficiency of blood cells caused by the failure of bone marrow development. He needed a transplant but because he is Asian he only had a 42% chance of finding a match, Huber said.

“We got extremely lucky that his doctor initiated a search through the Be The Match database and their partner databases all over the world. He ended up having over 100 matches,” said Huber.

A bone marrow transplant is a procedure that infuses healthy stem cells into the body to replace damaged or diseased bone marrow.

Sawle said there are many misconceptions about the donation process that keep people from donating. For most transplants, it is a simple blood draw procedure that takes four to five hours.

“Many people believe there is only one way to donate bone marrow and that is by undergoing surgery. This occurs 20% of the time. The majority of people get their blood drawn to donate bone marrow,” said Sawle.

Those on the receiving end of the transplant usually have a longer recovery and adjustment, as with Jack. He had a successful transplant but they had to adjust to a new at-home living situation. To ensure Jack’s safety and health they had to take certain measures to make sure there was no contact with germs and viruses for nine months. 

“To ensure Jack’s safety he had to wear a mask at all times he wasn’t in the house. He could go for walks but had to stay away from all trees and individuals walking down the street. The most challenging part was having to replace all the carpet throughout the house since it could carry mold,” said Huber.

 The family had to move out of the house to have renovations done.

The study came to the conclusion that recruiting strategies need more clarification and explanation for college students regarding the process of donating.

“Not knowing what the procedure is like, not even knowing anything about it. Most people know they have bone marrow and that’s the extent of it. They don’t even really know where that bone marrow is or where the procedure is or how it works. Therefore, think education is a significant factor,” said one student interviewed in the study.

As part of its efforts to recruit more students, Be the Match and The Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation partner with nearly 100 college and university sports teams to help save lives.

“Since the program began in 2015, program participants have successfully added 2,292 new members to the registry,” Be the Match’s website said.

After Huber’s personal experience, she is passionate about wanting to get more individuals registered.

“If you got called tomorrow to donate your marrow to save one’s life, how do you think it will affect your life? Speaking to donors they have said it has profoundly affected their lives,” said Huber.

Huber said whenever she gets a chance, she tells people that donors are lifesavers. She said many donors have told her that donation has enriched their lives because they have been able to help someone overcome disease.

“It’s a meaningful experience,” she said.