{"id":5591,"date":"2022-02-10T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2022-02-09T22:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.psy.uq.edu.au\/dorn\/?p=5591"},"modified":"2022-02-10T08:04:50","modified_gmt":"2022-02-09T22:04:50","slug":"featured-research-galen-switzer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.psy.uq.edu.au\/dorn\/featured-research-galen-switzer\/","title":{"rendered":"Featured Research: Galen Switzer"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Professor Galen Switzer<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Featured Researcher<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Professor Switzer is an expert regarding the motives and experiences of individuals who join an adult stem-cell donation registry. In collaboration with the U.S.-based National Marrow Donor Program, U.K.-based Anthony Nolan Registry, and German-based D.K.M.S., his research group has become internationally known for its findings about registry members\u2019 experience at critical points leading to donation, as well motivations for joining the registry and factors associated with opting-out after having preliminarily matched a patient in need of a transplant.\u00a0<\/p>

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Professor<\/span>\u00a0Switzer continues to lead the investigation on donation experiences from the donor perspective and advancing the understanding of health-related quality of life of pediatric stem cell donors and their families.<\/span><\/p>

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Quick facts about Professor Switzer <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I would be camping in the Rocky Mountains.\u00a0 I grew up in Kansas and I love the plains and wide-open spaces.\u00a0 However, every summer, my family would make the trek to the Rockies to camp for a week or so, and those are some of my best memories.\u00a0 There\u00a0 is something about the air, the smell of a campfire, and wind in the pines that always gets me.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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The Princess Bride, of course!\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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I have been lucky enough to have so many good travel experiences.\u00a0 The most interesting, fun, and transformative \u2013 although I wouldn\u2019t call it a vacation \u2013 was the year I studied in Germany.\u00a0 I learned so much about how large, diverse, and colourful the world is and how insular my growing-up experience had been.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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All of them \u2013 I know that doesn\u2019t really answer the question, but for me, this question is unanswerable.\u00a0 I like most every kind of food although I just can bring myself to like eggplant or okra \u2013 I think it is the slimy texture.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Both my parents grew up on farms in the Midwest US (Colorado and Nebraska) and I am certain that the farming gene somehow got passed along to me.\u00a0 I have a big vegetable garden and city chickens, but I am always looking for more opportunities to be outside working and growing things.\u00a0 I suspect a small organic farm would be just the right fit.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Some of my favourite words of advice come from the speaker\/actor\/comedian Stephen Fry who said \u201cWe are not nouns, we are verbs.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0I think this means that we need to embrace change, and to consider transition a chance to reinvent ourselves.\u00a0 I think I would have told my early self to be calm and to embrace uncertainty.\u00a0 Well\u2026\u2026and to take more vacations.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In his recent DoRN Week of Talks presentation, Professor Switzer gives a brief overview of the stem cell donation process, and talks about research on unrelated donors. Hematopoietic stem cell transplant involves collecting stem cells from healthy living donors and giving them to patients with blood-related diseases. There are three ways to donate stem cells: cord blood donation (collected from the umbilical cord after birth), bone marrow (marrow drawn from lower back) & Peripheral Blood Stem Cell donation (PBSC; drug stimulates stem cells to be released to peripheral blood).<\/p>

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To learn more about stem cell donation and Professor Switzer’s work, please click on the free video below:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Q & As<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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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 Professor Switzer, along with his answers.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDo you think there are interventions that could be developed to convert those externally motivated to join the registry to become internally motivated? What could these look like? Do you think the effort would be worth it, or should we focus on recruiting the 'right' (internally motivated) people in the first place?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h6>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t
This is a great question and our team has given it lots of thought.\u00a0 I think that first and foremost, it is critical to employ recruitment techniques that maximize the probability that individuals who join the registry are actually committed to donation should they be called upon.\u00a0 Although it is challenging to screen people based on their motivation to join the registry at recruitment, there are steps that can improve the likelihood that people are joining based on \u201cinternal\u201d motive types as I discussed in the presentation.\u00a0 These motive types are linked to deeply held beliefs about helping others and can be grounded in moral or religious principles.\u00a0 Examples of these techniques might include things like removing external incentives and social pressure in recruitment settings \u2013 we know, for example that things as seemingly mundane as providing free food at recruitment drives can motivate people to join the registry without thinking through what they are volunteering to do.\u00a0 We also know that situations that may involve social pressure to join \u2013 e.g., having competitions among university fraternities\/sororities to see how many new members they can register \u2013 are likely to lead people who are not fully committed to join the registry.\u00a0 Similarly, (and ironically) things that may make it easier to join a registry may lead to less-committed individuals joining.\u00a0 For example, we know that many potential members have a fear of needles. \u00a0In the past, when joining a registry required a blood draw, this likely excluded individuals for whom this would be a potential barrier to actual donation.\u00a0 Buccal swab typing has eliminated that potential barrier to joining and may have increased the likelihood that these individuals may join the registry but not be available for donation.\u00a0 We believe that minimizing external incentives to join a registry, avoiding recruitment contexts that may invoke social pressure to join, and potentially asking new members to reconfirm their commitment to donation at some point soon after they have initially indicated willingness to join, should all help to increase the likelihood that those who join are committed to donation.

\n\nThe second part of the question has to do with individuals who are already members of a registry but who may not be fully committed to donation.\u00a0 We have worked with the National Marrow Donor Program to use a 4-item \u201ccommitment\u201d measure among existing registry members.\u00a0 We know that the score on that measure is associated with likelihood of being available when called as a potential match.\u00a0 However, most registries are large enough that collecting this information from all registry members is impractical \u2013 and it is difficult to know exactly how to act on this information once it is collected.\u00a0 What we have suggested is that registries find ways to get members to perform some action that reaffirms commitment.\u00a0 Maybe that is responding yearly with a recommitment statement \u2013 e.g., \u201cI am still interested in being a member of the registry\u201d \u2013 or confirming contact information.\u00a0 A central problem is that there isn\u2019t an ongoing action that members perform to demonstrate active commitment as there is with many other types of helping acts.\u00a0 In fact, we know that many members cannot even remember joining a registry until they are called as a potential match for a patient.\u00a0 As noted in the presentation, we know that among blood donors, first-time donors are often motivated by external social pressures.\u00a0 However, if those donors can be persuaded to continue donation, they develop an internal \u201cdonor self-image\u201d. Increased commitment to blood donation and corresponding changes in self-image are thus produced in small incremental steps as donation continues, individuals begin to see themselves as \u201cthe kind of person who donates\u201d. \u00a0We need to think creatively about how similar processed of engagement can be provided to registry members so that we can enhance their perceptions of themselves as donors and increase their commitment to donate.

\n\nGE Switzer, MA Dew, VA Butterworth, RG Simmons, M Schimmel (1997). Understanding donors\u2019 motivations: a study of unrelated bone marrow donors. Soc Sci Med. July; 45(1): 137-47.

\n\nCallero, P. L., Howard, J. A. and Piliavin, J. A. (1987) Helping behavior as role behavior: disclosing social structure and history in the analysis of prosocial action.\u00a0Social Psychology Quarterly 50, 247-256.<\/span>

\n\n\u00a0<\/span>Piliavin, J. A. and Callero, P. L. (1991) Giving Blood.” The Development of an Altruistic Identity. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.

\n\nCallero, P. L. (1985) Role-identity salience. Social Psychology Quarterly 48, 203-215.

\n\nCharng, H. W., Piliavin, J. A. and Callero, P. L. (1988) Role identity and reasoned action in the prediction of repeated behavior. Social Psychology Quarterly 51, 303-317.<\/span>

\n\nGardner, W. E. and Cacioppo, J. T. (1995) Multi-gallon blood donors: why do they give? Transfusion 35, 795-798.

\n\nRoyse, D. and Doochin, K. E. (1995) Multi-gallon blood donors: who are they? Transfusion 35, 826-831.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYou have used various methods and tools while conducting qualitative research. What kind of qualitative research methods do you suggest which can be used for under resourced study\/research (especially from developing countries perspectives where there is a lack of trained researchers, research software, etc). <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h6>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

We do think that for any type of research for which the goal is to publish in top-tier journals, it is critical to engage trained researchers and follow rigorous research methods \u2013 that includes both qualitative and quantitative research.\u00a0 That said, there are many highly valuable projects that can be conducted with minimal resources and training that can be useful for local program improvement.\u00a0 For example, focus groups and individual interviews involving potential\/actual HSC donors can yield information about cultural\/religious beliefs, misconceptions, and key concerns that may be barriers to donation.\u00a0 Recording these conversations \u2013 either via audio-recording or intensive note-taking \u2013 is important so that they can be reviewed for key themes.\u00a0 There are multiple low-cost software programs that can assist with extracting themes from written text (e.g., NVivo and ATLAS.ti).\u00a0 It is even possible to use Excel spreadsheets or Word for entering and code responses when resources to purchase specialized software are limited.\u00a0 Information from these focus groups or interviews can then be used to tailor information and recruitment strategies to directly address donation-related concerns\/barriers.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhile conducting interviews over the phone there are high chances that we may lose capturing unspoken words\/info\/experience that might be very useful from a research perspective. How this can be capture or coded in data analysis? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h6>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

It is true that some information \u2013 particularly for qualitative research \u2013 may be lost in an audio-only telephone interview.\u00a0 Even if the interview is conducted using an audio-visual platform (e.g., zoom), it is difficult to know how to code and interpret anything other than the spoken words (e.g., facial expressions and gestures).\u00a0 Social psychologists have been working on ways to code facial expressions for many years but still have not settled on a systematic, cost-effective, and accurate way to do that except for the most general of emotional reactions.\u00a0 At this time, the best strategy is to rely heavily on the verbal responses of research participants.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t You mentioned younger donors and building the commitment of new and existing donors as aspects that need more attention in the research literature. Do you feel these are the main things we need to build information or find solutions for in future research? Or are there other unknowns that are more pressing priorities?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h6>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

As noted in the presentation, we know that younger potential HSC donors are the most clinically desirable and least available to donate after having preliminarily matched a patient.\u00a0 Younger donors are less likely to have health issues that preclude donation and using this donor group leads to better transplant outcomes.\u00a0 However, younger potential donors also have the highest rates of unavailability (>50%) when contacted as a potential match for a patient. \u00a0We believe that trying to identify reasons for these high rates of unavailability is critically important and we have focused much of our recent research on this issue.\u00a0 Here in the US, we also know that members of racial\/ethnic minority groups are less likely to join the registry and more likely to opt-out after matching a patient.\u00a0 We are highly engaged in trying to determine what barriers to donation might be specific to these groups.\u00a0 If we were able to improve availability rates among younger donors and race\/ethnic minorities by even a modest amount (e.g., 5%) it would have a substantial impact on the ability to find matched donors for patients in need.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDo you think the use of cheek swabs to sign up donors to bone marrow registries is contributing to a lower commitment to donate, even though it makes it easier for people (especially younger age groups) to sign up?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h6>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

The short answer is \u201cyes\u201d.\u00a0 In the early days of most registries, potential registry members had to pay for their own typing and endure a blood draw at registration.\u00a0 In combination, these things likely meant that only the most committed individuals ended up on the registry.\u00a0 Lowering the threshold to join (i.e., making it easier) likely allows individuals who are less committed to join the registry.\u00a0 However, in the US, a high threshold for joining also meant that there was a lack of diversity in the first few years of the registry.\u00a0 There is no doubt that the cheek swab is here to stay as a typing method and that suggests that we need to find other ways to enhance\/ensure commitment.\u00a0 One of the most promising avenues seems to be online registration.\u00a0 We know that individuals who join online are more likely to be available after matching a patient.\u00a0 This is likely because joining online often means that the individual (a) has sought out the registry, (b) is likely to be better informed before making a decision, (c) is not subject to immediate social pressure to join, and (d) has had time to process the decision.\u00a0 Our own research has found that individuals who joined with others, joined at a drive for a specific patient, joined at a college or university or reported that their ethnic group mattered in their decision of whether to join the registry are all more likely to discontinue registry participation.\u00a0 Some registries have tried using a combination of recruitment strategies that involve live recruitment drives followed by a requirement that individuals enter\/re-enter information online to confirm their decision to join.\u00a0 We think that these are promising strategies that deserve additional attention and research.\u00a0 Ultimately, finding ways to balance ease of joining with requirements that demonstrate commitment to donation are critical.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat do you think is the best way to keep people in the registry actively engaged? And would we need to specifically tailor engagement activities so that their membership to the stem cell registry is reinforced?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h6>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

This is both a critical issue and a difficult one.\u00a0 This is partly because many registries have grown so large that the cost of any engagement effort or intervention is often prohibitive.\u00a0 That said, we have encouraged the registries we work with to try to find ways to actively engage registry members in behaviors that are consistent with HSC donation.\u00a0 For example, registries could partner more closely with blood donation centers to encourage HSC donors to become regular blood donors \u2013 we know that blood donors are more likely to be available after matching a patient.\u00a0 There are also often local volunteer opportunities centered around donor recruitment and management that can engage registry members and enhance commitment.\u00a0\u00a0 Finally, encouraging financial donation to registry-affiliated foundations is another way of fostering commitment.\u00a0 Beyond that, any way that a registry can engage in active communication with donors is likely to enhance engagement\/commitment.\u00a0 This is a difficult issue and we recognize that additional creative solutions are needed.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHow big a role do you think young people being less financially secure, or being more likely to be recruited through college events has on their opting out? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h6>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

Our research has found that there are several potential barriers to donation that may be unique to, or more prevalent in, this younger group.\u00a0 These include fewer financial resources, childcare issues, work commitments, school commitments, and a sense that parents\/family might worry about donation-related consequences.\u00a0 These are all important issues to address to try to enhance availability among this group and creative solutions are needed.\u00a0 Things like sending nurses directly to potential donors to administer pre-donation medications, assisting with provisions for childcare, contacting employers directly to explain the importance of donation and paying for workdays missed, and scheduling donation (if possible) around required school activities are some possibilities.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The second part of the question is about recruitment contexts.\u00a0 We know that in the US, the two main contexts in which younger individuals join the registry are at college events and online.\u00a0 Joining at a college\/university is associated with less availability and joining online is associated with greater availability for reasons discussed in previous responses.\u00a0 College campuses are a fertile recruitment setting and recruiting on campuses also enhances diversity of the registry \u2013 we would not want to eliminate this as a potential recruitment setting.\u00a0 An interesting finding from our research is that on-campus recruitment is often targeted to or in proximity of athletic teams\/athletes. Our qualitative research findings suggest that this group may also may have elevated concerns about how donation could impact their ability to perform their sport (recovery, long-term effects, timing of donation would coincide with their sport\u2019s season\/event). These college student athletes have been working on their sport for a long time and college athletics may be the culmination of their career and their way for paying for part of their education.\u00a0 Finding ways to address concerns among this group is important.\u00a0 Ultimately, we may need to take extra care that individuals recruited on campus are committed to donation.\u00a0 A possible strategy that I mentioned above is to have a two-step process that requires an online activation and commitment affirmation after the live-drive campus recruitment.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Professor Galen Switzer Featured Researcher Twitter Linkedin Link Professor Switzer is an expert regarding the motives and experiences of individuals who join an adult stem-cell …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nFeatured Research: Galen Switzer - Donor Research Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/research.psy.uq.edu.au\/dorn\/featured-research-galen-switzer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Featured Research: Galen Switzer - 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