BloodHero: The Power of Gamification in Social Habit

Abstract

The lack of blood in hemocenters is an intermittent problem in the Brazilian health system; due to the difficulty of attracting blood donors, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), each country must maintain 3 – 5% of its population as regular blood donors. However, the number of regular donors in Brazil, in recent years, has not reached 3% of the population. In order to attract periodic volunteer blood donors, the objective of this study was to develop a mobile application, called BloodHero, to work as a social network, with a game methodology, known as gamification, to encourage blood donation. Initiatives and interactions favorable to blood donation, within the application, will generate points that will be used for in-game competitiveness. Another contribution given to those that use this software is the interaction between users who can donate blood and patient users, where these second ones can share their stories or use this software as a tool to find someone compatible with their blood type for donation.