Development and evaluation of a community of practice to improve stem cell donor recruitment in Canada

Vox Sanguinis ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Kum ◽  
Gabriele Jagelaviciute ◽  
Angela C. Chen ◽  
Iman Baharmand ◽  
Samer Rihani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Cell Donor ◽  
Donor Recruitment

scholarly journals Development and Evaluation of a Community of Practice to Support Stem Cell Donor Recruitment in Canada

Blood ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 25-26
Author(s):  
Elena Kum ◽  
Adriyan Hrycyshyn ◽  
Gabriele Jagelaviciute ◽  
Angela Carly Chen ◽  
Iman Baharmand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Local News ◽  
Cell Donor ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Knowledge And Practice ◽  
Stem Cell Donation ◽  
Effective Models ◽  
Donor Recruitment

Background: A community of practice (COP) is a group of people who share a passion for something, and learn how to perform better as they interact regularly. COPs have been shown to be effective models for achieving quality outcomes in healthcare. We report the development and evaluation of a COP in stem cell donor recruitment in Canada. Methodology: In 09/2017, we launched a COP in stem cell donor recruitment in Canada. Stakeholders in donor recruitment were invited via email and Facebook posts to participate in regular e-meetings and a Facebook group. E-meeting topics included running larger stem cell drives, recruiting the most needed donors, redirecting non-optimal donors, reviews of drive outcomes and strategies to improve, using patient stories to support donor recruitment, and reducing donor attrition. Each e-meeting included speakers and roundtable discussion relevant to the theme. The Facebook group facilitated discussion and sharing of resources between e-meetings (see Fig. A for examples of posts). COP participants were also invited to join subcommittees which focused on developing needed resources or achieving specific objectives identified by the COP. A survey was sent to COP participants in 01/2020 to evaluate the perceived impact of the COP to donor recruitment practice. Recruitment outcomes by COP participants of the Canadian donor recruitment organization Stem Cell Club were compared before and after the launch of the COP. Results: As of 07/2020, the COP Facebook group included 333 stakeholders in donor recruitment (312 donor recruiters from Stem Cell Club; 15 patients/donors; 6 donor registry staff). 51 unique attendees participated in 7 e-meetings, 21 of whom attended 2 or more meetings. COP participants collaboratively set the following goals for the COP: 1) to foster teamwork and collaboration in donor recruitment efforts; 2) to improve knowledge and practice related to donor recruitment; 3) to improve recruitment of the most-needed donors; and 4) to improve donor recruiters' ability to run high quality stem cell drives. 141 posts were published to the Facebook group about patient/donor stories (41%), resources in stem cell donation (23%), stem cell drive outcomes and campaigns (15%), updates related to donor recruitment (14%), and questions posed to the community by COP participants (5%). 44 COP participants completed the COP evaluation survey. The majority agreed/strongly agreed that the Facebook group (86%) and e-meetings (59%) supported the development of a community. 64-84% agreed/strongly agreed that participating in the COP fostered collaboration; improved their knowledge and practice in donor recruitment; and improved their ability to run higher quality drives and recruit most-needed donors (Fig. B). Stem Cell Club's donor recruitment outcomes improved following the launch of the COP: in 2016-2017, Stem Cell Club recruited 2918 donors (46% male; 55.9% of males non-Caucasian) compared to 3418 donors in 2017-2018 (52.7% male; 57.8% of males non-Caucasian), and 4531 donors in 2018-2019 (52.9% male; 62.7% of males non-Caucasian) (Fig C). Finally, a number of outputs were generated as a result of collaboration through the COP, including development of resources such as an infographic (stemcellclub.ca/promo.html), a whiteboard video series (youtu.be/V4fVBtxnWfM), and a stem cell donation story library (#WhyWeSwab; facebook.com/WhyWeSwab). COP participants collaborated on national donor recruitment campaigns, securing coverage in major media outlets across Canada (including Toronto Star: thestar.com/life/2019/11/15/stem-cell-donors-wanted-get-swabbed-campaign-coming-to-university-campuses.html; Toronto Sun: torontosun.com/news/local-news/working-to-build-canadas-network-of-stem-cell-donors; London Free Press: lfpress.com/news/local-news/toddlers-case-proves-patients-must-harness-social-media-in-quest-for-stem-cell-donors-advocates; and Victoria News: vicnews.com/news/stem-cell-drive-at-uvic-aims-to-find-lifesaving-donors-for-patients-in-need) and recruiting thousands of needed donors (Fig. D). Conclusion: We describe the first COP in stem cell donor recruitment to our knowledge. The COP was valued by participants and supported efforts to improve donor recruitment. The COP model can be adapted by donor recruitment organizations around the world to improve recruitment outcomes. Figure Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

scholarly journals Development and Evaluation of a Community of Practice to Support Stem Cell Donor Recruitment in Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. S303-S304
Author(s):  
Elena Kum ◽  
Gabriele Jagelaviciute ◽  
Adriyan Hrycyshyn ◽  
Angela Carley Chen ◽  
Iman Baharmand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Cell Donor ◽  
Donor Recruitment

The Stem Cell Drive: A Canadian Perspective

Blood ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 126 (23) ◽  
pp. 5434-5434
Author(s):  
Warren Fingrut
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Tissue Sample ◽  
Buccal Swab ◽  
Cell Transplant ◽  
Cell Donor ◽  
Donation Process ◽  
Stem Cell Donation ◽  
Donor Recruitment

Abstract Patients with a variety of blood cancers and metabolic diseases may require a stem cell transplant as part of their treatment. However, 70% of patients do not have a suitable genetic match in their family. Stem cell donor-databases are used to match potential unrelated donors to patients worldwide. In Canada, individuals aged 17-35 years can register as donors online or at a stem cell drive where they provide consent and a tissue sample (buccal-swab) for Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) allele typing. To date, no guidelines have been published to recommend a process for stem cell donor recruitment at drives. Here, I outline a Canadian approach to stem cell drive design, which features evidence-based strategies to identify and recruit the most-needed stem cell donors and to minimize donor ambivalence and withdrawal from the registry. This model of stem cell drive design includes five stations: pre-screening, informed consent, registration, swabbing, and reconciliation. Registrant confidentiality and privacy is maintained at each station, and quality control is emphasized throughout. Registrants are first pre-screened to ensure donor eligibility. Recruiters at the prescreening station target the most-needed stem cell donors according to the literature: young, healthy, and ethnically-diverse males. Non-optimal and ineligible registrants are redirected to help out in other ways. Recruiters then explain the principles of stem cell donation and educate registrants about the stem cell donation process. Next, registrants proceed to the informed consent station, which is designed to meet the requirements of the World Marrow Donor Association's suggested procedures for procurement of informed consent at time of recruitment (2003). Here, recruiters hand registrants an information pamphlet, and explain blood and marrow stem cell collection procedure diagrams. The risks of donation are outlined, and registrants are informed of their right to withdraw at any time and about donor and patient anonymity. Registrants are subsequently guided through registration, where they provide their contact/demographic information, complete a health questionnaire, and sign a consent form to join the registry. Recruiters at this station error check registrants' forms to ensure correct completion, and educate registrants about the data collection, storage, usage, and confidentiality. Following registration, registrants proceed to swabbing, where they swab their cheeks to provide a tissue/DNA sample. Recruiters at this station affix barcode stickers to each swab kit component. While registrants swab their cheeks, volunteers perform an informed consent checkpoint by asking registrants if they understand the donation process, the risks involved, and the right to withdraw at any time. Finally, registrants visit reconciliation, where their paperwork is error checked again, their understanding of the donation process is assessed a final time to verify informed consent, and their kit processed for shipping. In summary, the five-station approach to stem cell drive design outlined in this presentation represents a new model for effective stem cell donor recruitment. Figure 1. Figure 1. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

scholarly journals Very low error rates of NGS-based HLA typing at stem cell donor recruitment question the need for a standard confirmatory typing step before donor work-up

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 928-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Baier ◽  
Jan A. Hofmann ◽  
Heike Fischer ◽  
Gabi Rall ◽  
Julia Stolze ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Hla Typing ◽  
Cell Donor ◽  
Work Up ◽  
Donor Recruitment

scholarly journals Toward an Optimal Global Stem Cell Donor Recruitment Strategy

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. e86605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander H. Schmidt ◽  
Jürgen Sauter ◽  
Julia Pingel ◽  
Gerhard Ehninger
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Recruitment Strategy ◽  
Cell Donor ◽  
Donor Recruitment

scholarly journals Development and Evaluation of a Library of TikToks to Support Recruitment of Committed Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donors from Needed Demographic Groups

Blood ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 138 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 4025-4025
Author(s):  
Brady Park ◽  
Lauren Sano ◽  
Becky Shields ◽  
Sylvia Okonofua ◽  
Mikyla Tak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem Cell ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Demographic Groups ◽  
Cell Donor ◽  
Knowledge And Attitudes ◽  
Stem Cell Donation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Donor Recruitment

Abstract Introduction TikTok is a rapidly growing social media platform that allows users to develop and share short videos. We hypothesized that a library of videos developed through TikTok (TikToks) would support the recruitment of committed hematopoietic stem cell donors from needed demographic groups (i.e. young, male, from diverse ancestries). Methods Members of the community of practice (CoP) in stem cell donor recruitment in Canada (facebook.com/groups/stemcellclub) were activated to develop TikToks. Training was provided during e-meetings of the CoP (8/2020, 1/2021, 5/2021) and in a video published online (stemcellclub.ca/training), highlighting the principles of effective TikTok design. These principles included the use of engaging hooks, music, and calls to action; short duration (< 30s); high educational value; and appeal to diverse donors. The training also outlined how to: record content, adjust clip lengths, apply audiovisual effects, and share across social media platforms. A CoP TikTok committee was formed to develop and review TikToks prior to publication. Following launch, we evaluated stakeholder perspective on these TikToks and the impact 1) across social and traditional media and 2) on eligible donors' knowledge and attitudes towards donation. Results Between 9/2020-7/2021, a network of TikTok channels was launched by CoP members, including a national donor recruitment TikTok library (tiktok.com/@stemcellclub). A total of 217 TikToks were produced across these channels (median length 17s, range 4-52s), covering a range of educational topics, designed for use in specific recruitment campaigns, and featuring unique video effects (Fig. A). The TikToks accumulated over 234,000 Views, 42,000 Likes, 3,000 Comments, and 14,200 Shares on TikTok, were republished by Canadian media outlets (e.g. CBC [twitter.com/cbcnewsbc/status/1361511367426080773], CTV News [ctvnews.ca/health/meet-the-women-hoping-to-recruit-more-stem-cells-donors-from-black-communities-1.5314038, ctvnews.ca/health/pride-month-tiktok-drive-encourages-stem-cell-donations-from-gay-bi-men-1.5475113], Victoria News [vicnews.com/news/most-black-canadians-wont-find-a-stem-cell-donor-in-time-this-group-is-working-to-change-that]) and were highlighted by major medical organizations (e.g. Canadian Blood Services [blood.ca/en/stories/meet-stem-cell-club, blood.ca/en/stories/stem-cell-club-volunteers-aim-save-lives-pride-month-campaign], American Association of Blood Banks [aabb.org/news-resources/news/article/2021/02/01/twitter-tiktok-aabb-virtual-journal-club-assesses-use-of-multimedia-resources-for-donor-recruitment]). 33 CoP members from 6 provinces across Canada, with a median of 2 years of recruitment experience, completed a post-launch survey. The majority felt that TikToks promote donation in an attention-grabbing way (94%), engage younger donors (100%), and teach key points in a short time period (94%). The majority were confident in their ability to make TikToks (63%), but felt they would benefit from additional training (63%). 46 eligible stem cell donors (from 12 different non-Caucasian ancestral groups; living in 5 provinces across Canada) completed surveys evaluating the impact of TikToks on their knowledge and attitudes towards donation. No participants were registered as donors and only four had a personal connection to an individual who needed a stem cell transplant. After being shown a series of TikToks, mean scores on a 6-question stem cell donation knowledge test improved from 59% to 73% (p=0.0012) (Fig. B); mean scores on a modified Simmons Ambivalence Scale decreased from 52% to 30% (p<0.0001) (Fig. C); and participants were more willing to register as donors (70% vs. 39%, p=0.0011). Participants reported that viewing TikToks positively impacted on their decision to register (87%), helped them understand stem cell donation (89%), and would help them talk about stem cell donation with friends/family (78%). Conclusions We report the first published experience using TikToks in a donor recruitment context. Our TikToks achieved significant social and traditional impact in a short period of time, and supported recruitment of committed stem cell donors from needed demographic groups. Our work is relevant to recruitment organizations worldwide seeking to modernize their recruitment approaches. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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