Your Digest

Watch, share and celebrate employee highlights from 2022 

Another year is almost behind us. As a thank you, we’ve put together a short video highlighting some of the incredible work of our teams from coast to coast. We hope you will enjoy this look-back on some of the achievements and milestones. Because of you, we can help every patient, match every need and serve every Canadian.   

Public health researcher weighs in on sexual behaviour-based screening 

Dr. Nathan Lachowsky, research director at the Community-Based Research Centre and University of Victoria professor, has been involved in helping Canadian Blood Services move to sexual behaviour-based screening. Earlier this month, he sat down with Xtra Magazine to discuss what the changes mean and the work that still needs to take place. “My main message is that we should celebrate, because this year’s changes do recognize the years and years of advocacy work and research work. But the fight is certainly not over,” says Nathan. You can find the article on Xtra.  

January DEI workshop to explore allyship in action 

Allyship is a lifelong process of building relationships based on trust, consistency and accountability with people from equity-deserving groups. On Jan. 12 (12:30 – 2 p.m. ET),  Osayi Ogieva, DEI manager, will lead a workshop titled Demonstrating allyship in the workplace, which will provide employees and leaders with a deeper understanding of what workplace allyship looks like in action. This session will provide tips, considerations and guidance so that participants can build greater self-awareness around their power and privilege and become more active upstanders at work. Register here before Jan. 11 to receive your Outlook calendar invite and link to this session. In case you missed it, here’s the recording of our last workshop: Disrupting systemic and interpersonal racism.   

Question of the day

I recently signed up to be a stem cell donor. What happens now? 

Every year, hundreds of patients in Canada — and even more worldwide — wait for a lifesaving stem cell transplant. If you registered previously or more recently, as part of our Give 3 in 2023 holiday campaign, you have signed up to save someone’s life. 

After you’ve registered on blood.ca/stemcells, you will be sent a buccal (cheek) swab kit in the mail. You’ll complete the quick and easy collection procedure by following the instructions with the kit. Then send it back and we’ll process your kit and notify you once you become officially searchable on the registry for patients in need. This part of the process may take a few weeks. 

Months or years may pass after you register to become a stem cell donor and we know health can change over time. Our comprehensive health screening will confirm you’re still eligible to donate stem cells if you’re selected as a match for a patient in need. 

In Canada, a patient’s search for a donor may start with family members, but only about 25 per cent of patients are able to find a match within their family. Most of the time, patients must rely on unrelated volunteer donors from a registry, and their best chance of finding a donor is often with someone of the same ethnic background.  

If you're between the ages of 17–35 or know someone who’s in that age bracket and in good health, you or they could be the rare match for a patient in need. Visit blood.ca/stemcells for more information.