From waste product to blood, brains and narratives: developing a pluralist sociology of contributions to health research

A scoping review of sociology of voluntary blood donation

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Maintaining stable blood supplies presents an increasing challenge for blood collection agencies (BCAs). Novel and multidisciplinary approaches and research have been called for to understand the mechanisms underlying the trends. The current body of sociological research on blood donation is a potentially valuable resource, but it is dispersed over different publications and theoretical frameworks.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We conducted a scoping review of sociological research on voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation to identify insights and practical applications for researchers and BCAs.

RESULTS

Four organizing themes were identified: donated blood, blood donors, organizations and blood service systems. Key challenges associated with the organization of voluntary blood donation exist at the institutional and systems levels, and they may not be readily resolved by interventions focussed solely on the individual donor level. We identified opportunities for organizations to build trust with donors and the public through communications and working with communities to promote inclusion in blood donation.

CONCLUSION

The results support a multidisciplinary approach and research for BCAs to move forward and find novel ways to ensure safe, resilient blood service systems.

"Please help us with important research": A retrospective analysis examining the impact of research invitation and participation on subsequent blood donor behavior

BACKGROUND

As over-communication can negatively impact consumer behavior, it is important to understand the impact of research communication on donors' future donation behavior. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of (i) being invited to participate in research, and (ii) participating in that research, on future donation behavior.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted with 36,418 donors who were invited to participate in one of 17 research projects, and a matched control group of 36,252 non-invited donors. Poisson regression models were used to examine the associations between invitation or participation in the studies and the likelihood of creating an appointment to donate and attending an appointment at 1, 3, and 6 months.

RESULTS

Donors were significantly more likely to create an appointment within 14 days of receiving an invitation compared to controls (RR: 1.91, 95% CI 1.81-2.02), and to return to donate at 1 (RR:1.18, 95% CI 1.13-1.24), 3 (RR:1.10, 95% CI 1.07-1.13) and 6 (RR:1.11, 95% CI 1.09-1.13) months compared to non-invited controls. Donors who participated in the research were more likely to return than control donors at all time points, while donors who were invited but did not participate were also likely to return more at 1 month (RR:1.06, 95% CI 1.00-1.11) and 6 months (RR:1.03, 95% CI 1.00-1.5) than non-invited controls.

DISCUSSION

Our findings suggest that research participation is positively associated with future donor behavior and provides reassurance that contacting donors for research does not negatively impact blood collections.

Better governance starts with better words: why responsible human tissue research demands a change of language

The rise of precision medicine has led to an unprecedented focus on human biological material in biomedical research. In addition, rapid advances in stem cell technology, regenerative medicine and synthetic biology are leading to more complex human tissue structures and new applications with tremendous potential for medicine. While promising, these developments also raise several ethical and practical challenges which have been the subject of extensive academic debate. These debates have led to increasing calls for longitudinal governance arrangements between tissue providers and biobanks that go beyond the initial moment of obtaining consent, such as closer involvement of tissue providers in what happens to their tissue, and more active participatory approaches to the governance of biobanks. However, in spite of these calls, such measures are being adopted slowly in practice, and there remains a strong tendency to focus on the consent procedure as the tool for addressing the ethical challenges of contemporary biobanking. In this paper, we argue that one of the barriers to this transition is the dominant language pervading the field of human tissue research, in which the provision of tissue is phrased as a 'donation' or 'gift', and tissue providers are referred to as 'donors'. Because of the performative qualities of language, the effect of using 'donation' and 'donor' shapes a professional culture in which biobank participants are perceived as passive providers of tissue free from further considerations or entitlements. This hampers the kind of participatory approaches to governance that are deemed necessary to adequately address the ethical challenges currently faced in human tissue research. Rather than reinforcing this idea through language, we need to pave the way for the kind of participatory approaches to governance that are being extensively argued for by starting with the appropriate terminology.

Morbid curiosity? Discussion of the disposal of amputated limbs on online question and answer sites

Amputation is a growing health issue with implications for the corporeal form and sense of bodily identity. Disposal of the removed limb (the amputate) has historically been suggested to impact on patient adaptation to amputation, although understandings of limb disposal are scarce within existing research. The growth of online question and answer sites has created opportunities for social actors to post and respond to a vast array of topic areas, including those that are seen as morbid or taboo. This paper then explores the discussion of amputate disposal within threads from two popular question and answer sites. Using thematic analysis, the paper examines how perceived ownership of limbs, understanding of the amputate as ‘waste’ and recourse to grotesque humour are key means by which limb disposal is discussed within these sites. Posters then create a new knowledge around the disposal of limbs, albeit one framed by uncertainty.