The Saving Lifes, Changing Lives project which aimed to promote awareness about blood donation and to increase the level of donation especially among youngsters applied various methods to achieve its objective and became successful.

Acting with a positive perspective on blood donation instead of negative examples such as diseases and accidents, which is the norm, the project coordinator of the Turkish Red Crescent Society, Eskişehir Branch with its Portuguese partner Saude Em Portugues further developed its awareness materials adopted as a model abroad.

The project which was completed within a period of fourteen months created an augmented virtual reality simulation and turned it into a game. For sustainable blood donation, the integration of youngsters into the process was considered essential. The game played with special goggles allows youngsters to get into the human body and wander inside vessels. They see red blood cells, fight against viruses and witness the change of body following blood donation. They repair scars in vessels by collecting points. In other words, they observe the importance of blood donation in an entirely different environment with the help of an enjoyable computer game. This game, tested at ten different high schools, Anadolu University and Osman Gazi University in Eskişehir, will continue to be developed and disseminated further even though the project is finalized.

One of the important outcomes of the project was activities aimed at raising awareness through subliminal messages. For this purpose, consumables commonly used in daily life were selected and transparent labels to be affixed to it were designed. The project cooperated with Eskişehir Tax Office and Eskişehir Provincial Directorate of Disaster and Emergency to test the transparent labels designed in the form of blood bags. The labels were affixed to the soap dispensers in toilets, the thermostats of air-conditioners and radiators and q-matic machines. In this way, it was stated that blood donation was a fluctuant need just as seen on the labels without directly telling it, but in a subliminal way. It was tested among the employees of the tax office whether this awareness-raising method was effective or not and it was found out that blood donation increased by 20 percent compared to 2014.

Turkish Red Crescent Society Eskişehir Branch will continue to develop and disseminate these important outcomes of the project although the project is  completed.

For more detailed information on the project, you can visit www.savinglifeschanginglives.com.