Featured Researcher: Dr Kelly Holloway

Dr. Kelly Holloway

Featured Researcher

Kelly is a medical sociologist with interdisciplinary training in health policy and political economy. She is a Scientist with the Canadian Blood Services’ Centre for Innovation, and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. Following her doctoral work in Sociology at York University, Dr. Holloway did two CIHR-funded postdoctoral fellowships at Dalhousie University and the University of Toronto.

Kelly investigates donor behaviours to effectively inform strategies and approaches to recruitment, using qualitative research methodologies to understand how donor behavior is situated in political, social and economic contexts. Her current work focuses on plasma donation and health policy.

Quick facts about Kelly

What is the one piece of advice you wish you could give yourself before you started your research journey?

I would remind myself that my interest has always been to do research in the public interest, and to draw meaningful connections between people’s personal lives and their social context. That reminder is an effort to stay away from the competitive aspects of academic life, and just do good work.

Cats or dogs?

Both. I have two cats and a bearded dragon. If I lived in the country, I would have dogs too- and chickens.

What do you hope to achieve in the future?

I want to promote public health, and produce meaningful sociological analysis that can help us understand and improve the collection of blood and blood products to meet the needs of patients.

What is your favourite quote?

“The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned. I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.” ― Antonio Gramsci.

What’s something that no one would guess about you?

I was in a punk(ish) band called the Sister Wives and played the keyboard.

Kelly’s recent work involves a qualitative study called ‘The social in plasma donor motivation.’ This study investigates donor experiences of a new source plasma collection site in Canada. The use of the plasma protein product immune globulin (lg) has expanded significantly in recent years and many jurisdictions are finding it difficult to meet the demand for source plasma with voluntary non-remunerated donors. Because of the rising need for plasma, Canadian Blood Services has initiated a plan to increase Canada’s domestic plasma sufficiency. This plan involves three new proof of concept source plasma collection sites (Sudbury, Lethbridge and Kelowna) and seeks to demonstrate a workable cost-effective and successful template for future source plasma collection in Canada. In her DoRN Week of Talks presentation, Kelly presents 33 semi-structured qualitative interviews with donors in Sudbury that were conducted between December 2020 and February 2021.

To learn more about Dr. Holloway’s work, please click on the free video below:

Q & As

The DoRN Week of Talks provided a unique opportunity to engage in an easy and convenient Q & A with presenters. Below we have listed the questions that we received for Kelly, along with her answers.

Do you think better communication around why payment is being considered as an option, and how it is going to used, could ease the transition from voluntary to paid donors?

To be clear, Canadian Blood Services is not considering paying plasma donors. My research explores how our current donors think about payment and private for profit plasma collection. The participants in my study indicate that if they were to be paid for donation (by a private for-profit centre), they want full transparency: where the money is going, and how it is being used.

Can you explain a bit about the abductive analysis process? How does this differ from other forms of analysis such as thematic analysis.

I use abductive analysis with grounded theory to be more transparent about how my use of theory guides my interpretation of the data. Grounded theory is a systematic approach for conducting qualitative research where data collection and analysis take place simultaneously, to inform theories of the phenomenon under study. Abductive analysis allows the researcher to be situated in a knowledge and understanding of the theoretical contributions of the field, checking these theoretical contributions against what is being observed in the field. For a far more in-depth explanation see Tavory, I., & Timmermans, S. (2014). Abductive analysis: Theorizing qualitative research. University of Chicago Press.

Did participants reflect at all on the frequency of plasma donation or on the donation procedure? In the Australian context these are aspects of donating plasma that donors distinguish as very different and potentially more difficult than donating whole blood and I wondered if your participants raised these aspects?

I did speak with donors about frequency and donation procedure and it would probably be very fruitful to compare notes about how donors in our different settings navigate these matters. Most of the donors who participated in my study had already donated more than three times. I also did follow up interviews where I asked if they were starting to establish a routine around donation. Answers vary considerably based on the participants type of work, retirement status, fitness schedule etc., but generally they were developing a routine that could fit plasma into their lives. Most participants did not have difficulty transitioning from whole blood, but some did find that the return of red blood cells (and saline) feels cold. I spoke to participants about any difficulties they face, what changes they would make. I would be happy to share findings!