/R E P E A T -- Innovation: Héma-Québec launches a virtual reality tool to reassure and recruit new donors/

MONTRÉAL, Oct. 25, 2023 /CNW/ - As part of the initiatives marking its 25th anniversary, Héma-Québec is launching a virtual reality experience today aimed at reducing the public's apprehensions about donating blood. Because a lack of knowledge about the process is among the biggest obstacles to donating, the organization turned to the Québec firm OVA to run an immersive pilot project, deployed in some donation centres and during recruitment activities across the province.

Virtual reality, with its immersion potential and its ability to recreate real-life situations, is a powerful tool for awareness and education.

"It's a fun way to familiarize yourself with the donation process and, we hope, allay some of the fears that people who haven't yet given blood might have," says Patrice Lavoie, Director of Public Relations and Outreach at Héma-Québec. At present, only 3% of the Québec population donate blood. With our proposal, we hope to help reduce the public's apprehension about the blood donation process, by demonstrating the fluidity of the experience alongside professional and empathetic employees and volunteers."

How the experience works

With virtual reality headsets and controllers, users will be immersed in an animated universe that realistically reproduces a Héma-Québec donation centre. During that virtual experience, users will quickly move through all the conventional steps of donating blood, from reception to collection. Throughout the journey, they will be accompanied by avatars representing the centre's staff and will receive information about the donation and the process.

"One of our priorities with this mandate was to ensure that the experience is genuine. With assistance from our educational technology specialists, we developed a detailed representation of the blood donating process. The goal is to provide users with a deep immersion that reflects the true experience as accurately as possible," said Olivier Chartrand, Vice-President of Partnerships at OVA.

Gradual deployment

During the first phase of the pilot, volunteers from the Association of Blood Donation Volunteers (ABDV) will bring the headsets with them to recruitment events held across Québec. The experience will also be available for a few hours a week at the Héma-Québec Saint-Bruno Donor Centre and at the Globule in Sainte-Foy.

A second phase of the pilot project will then be considered if the first one is successful.

About Héma-Québec

Héma-Québec's mission is to efficiently meet the Québec population's needs for blood and other high-quality biological products of human origin. Héma-Québec has over 1,600 employees, more than 200,000 donors of blood, stem cells, mother's milk and human tissues, as well as thousands of blood drive volunteers. Every year, Héma-Québec delivers nearly 800,000 biological products of human origin to Québec's hospitals in order to meet patients' needs.

Give blood. Give life.

SOURCE Héma-Québec

Source: Patrice Lavoie, Director of Public Relations and Outreach, Héma-Québec, [email protected], Cell: 514 567-7496; Information: Marie-Rose Desautels, Morin Relations Publiques, [email protected], Cell: [phone]